Get Out Alive
by HELENz
Summary: Cody and Zack attend a pharming party, where teens abuse prescription drugs. Someone that they don’t know dies due to overdose. Tapeworm almost dies, but recovers. Will these events be enough to convince the twins to stop going? See full summary inside.
1. An Invitation To Disaster

**Summary**

Cody and Zack attend a pharming party, where teens abuse prescription drugs. Someone that Zack and Cody don't know dies due to overdose. Tapeworm almost dies, but recovers. Will these events be enough to convince the twins to stop going, or will Zack continue to go despite the many risks?

Contains "Get Out Alive" by Three Days Grace. CAUTION: Contains drug use. Couples include Zack/OC, Barbara/Cody and Tapeworm/Max.

DISCLAIMER: The only characters in the story I lay claim to are the ones who did not appear in the series (my original characters), and I claim the plot. Song lyrics are not mine, they are Three Days Grace's.

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**Chapter One – An Invitation to Disaster**

"Zack, are you looking forward to your first day of high school?" Cody asked, excitedly. They were riding on the bus to school. "I know I am!"

"Whatever," Zack replied, nonchalantly.

"I'm looking forward to all of my classes! Algebra 2 is going to be awesome!"

"Nerd!"

"So, what are you looking forward to?"

"Getting out!"

"Isn't it going to be interesting to meet all the new kids?"

"What new kids?"

"Some of the kids who will be going to Chivers High School went to a different middle school than us."

"Cool. More girls to date!"

"Is that all you think about? Girls?"

"And parties! We're going to go to some killer parties his year, or at least I am!"

"You know… You should really focus on your schoolwork. It's more important, you know."

"Huh?"

"Colleges will see your grades from high school. If you want to actually get into college, you may want to actually try to do well in high school."

"Whatever."

"Oh, and about those "killer parties": We have got to make sure there's parental supervision at them."

"Whatever."

"Zack, crazy stuff goes on at some high school parties! We're not in middle school, anymore. We've got to be careful!"

"Whatever," Zack said, pulling his iPod and earbuds out of his backpack. "Can you leave me alone? I wanna listen to music!"

"Fine," Cody replied, pulling a book out of his backpack. "I'll just read!"

"You do that."

Five minutes later, Cody took off one of Zack's earbuds and said, "Turn down your music! It's too loud. I can hear it. You're going to damage your hearing!"

"Whatever," Zack replied, fiddling with the volume on his iPod.

"How can you stand those earbud thingies? They drive me nuts. I can't use them."

"Whatever."

Later on… Zack, Cody, Barbara, Tapeworm and Max were sitting together at lunch. Tapeworm and Max were sitting next to each other. They had been dating since the fourth of July, when Tapeworm had finally gotten the courage to ask her out. Cody and Barbara were sitting next to each other, across from Tapeworm and Max. They had been dating since spring of their eighth-grade year. Zack was sitting next to Cody.

"Well, this isn't awkward," Zack said, sarcastically.

"What?" Barbara asked.

"This," Zack replied. "You're dating Cody. Max is dating Tapeworm. I'm the only one here who is single. It's kinda awkward."

"Feeling like the third wheel, Zack?" Tapeworm asked, laughing.

"More like the 'fifth' wheel!" Max said, jokingly.

"Haha. Very funny," Zack said, sarcastically.

"Dude, you're not the only one who's felt like they were the third wheel!" Tapeworm said. "Might I remind you I've only been dating Max since this summer?"

"Your point?" Zack asked.

"Last year, there was a few days when for whatever reason you and Mad both weren't at lunch," Tapeworm replied. "I sat with Cody and Barbara. I definitely felt like a third wheel."

"Oh," Zack said.

"Don't worry about it, brother," Cody said. "Being single isn't that bad. Plus, on the bus this morning, you were excited about all the new girls at school this year."

"Oh yeah," Zack replied, smiling. He was thinking of Coraline who sat in front of him during geography. She had long black hair and dark green eyes. Usually Zack went for the blondes, but there was something about Coraline. She was beautiful and funny. She also seemed slightly mysterious.

"Thinking of someone already?" asked Cody, teasingly.

"Huh? What? Uh, no," Zack said quickly.

"Right…" Tapeworm said, sarcastically.

"Who is it?" Max asked.

"Uh… No one," Zack said, nervously. "How was everyone's day at school?"

"Changing the subject?" asked Barbara.

"Hey! Are you Zack Martin?" a tall, red-headed kid asked Cody.

"No. I'm Cody, his twin brother. That's Zack," said Cody, pointing to Zack.

"Oh. Hello Zack," said the stranger. He had ear piercings in the shape of fangs. He was wearing a grey hoodie and dark blue jeans with holes in them.

"Uh… Hi," Zack said. "Who are you?"

"My name is Seth. I'm a freshman," Seth replied.

"Oh," Zack replied. "Nice to meet you."

"Word has it, you're the coolest guy in your grade," Seth replied. "Which is why I am inviting you to a party my friend Blaine is having this weekend. It's goin' to be a killer party!"

"Sweet! Can I invite these guys to come?" Zack asked, gesturing to Cody, Barbara, Tapeworm and Max.

"It depends. Are they cool?" Seth asked, with a snobby attitude.

"Kind of," Zack replied.

"Alrighty then," Seth replied. "They're invited!"

"Are Blaine's parents going to be there?" Cody asked.

"Uh… Yeah…" Seth replied, smirking. "It's at 8:00pm, by the way! I'll give you the address of Blaine's house later." He walked away.

"So… Who's going?" Zack asked, excitedly.

"I can't," Barbara replied. "I already have plans. Have fun, though."

"I'm game," replied Tapeworm. "Max, you going?"

"Nah I already have plans, too," Max replied.

"I'm going," Cody said.

"Alright then. I'll tell you guys the address later…" Zack said.

"Why don't we just meet at the hotel before hand and ride our bikes there?" Cody asked.

"Sounds good to me," said Tapeworm.

"Alright then. Regardless of where Blaine's house is, we should meet at a specific time," Zack said. "It doesn't matter if we're late."

"Right," Cody replied. "7:45, everyone?"

"Sounds good," Zack and Tapeworm said in unison.


	2. Coraline

**Chapter Two – Coraline**

"Coraline?" asked Zack. He had just arrived at the skateboard park to find the black-haired beauty at the top of one of the ramps. She was wearing a red tank-top with a Three Days Grace logo, light blue jeans and black converses. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Coraline asked, laughing. She flipped her long black hair back.

He had to laugh as well. "How long have you been skateboarding?"

"Six years," she replied. She dropped in and skateboarded to one of the rails. She grinded down the rail perfectly and came over to where Zack was standing, stopping about a foot and a half away from him.

"Nice," said Zack, obviously impressed.

"What can you do, Zack?" Coraline, asked, smirking.

"Huh?" Zack said, not entirely paying attention.

"You skateboard, right?" Coraline asked, smiling.

"Yeah, I've been skateboarding for seven years!"

"Alright, then do something! Show me what you've got!"

Zack went down the ramp. He skateboarded around in a circle to gain speed, and then went off the ramp in the center. He spun around, landed on his skateboard and skateboarded over to Coraline.

"Pretty good," Coraline said, smiling.

"How come I haven't seen you at this skateboard park before?"

"This is the second time I've been here. I just moved to Boston in August."

"Oh. Where'd you move from?"

"Grandview Heights, Ohio. It's a suburb of Columbus. You do know where Ohio is, right?"

"Duh. I'm not stupid."

"Could have fooled me."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. You just seem like you don't have a clue in geography."

"Well I do. So what do you think of this skateboard park?"

"It's awesome. Best one I've been to."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's better than any skatepark in Columbus. Grandview Height's park is a joke. It's a bunch of wooden ramps and steel rails and it's not even permanent. It moves from the pool parking lot to the tennis courts at a local park every year. Hilliard has a little bit better, but horribly simple one. It's good for a beginner, but it was boring for me after about a year and a half. Dublin had a better park, but it wasn't great. Gahanna also had a decent park. This one is better than any of those Columbus parks!"

"That's good."

"So what else can you do on a skateboard?"

"I mostly do jumps and twists and stuff."

"Can you grind?"

"Decently."

"Can you land a jump over that set of stairs?" she asked, pointing at a set of six stairs.

"No. I've been working on being able to do it, though. I work on it every time I come here."

"I see."

"I'm assuming you can do it, since you asked."

"No. Actually, I don't know how to do a jump over a set of six stairs. Dublin and Gahanna only have a set of four stairs."

"Can you jump that?"

"Easily."

"Alright then. Why don't you try the set of six stairs?"

"You first."

"Okay then," Zack said. He got up and went over to the set of six stairs. He started skateboarding about 40 feet before the set of stairs. He gained speed and jumped over the set of stairs. He almost landed it, but he fell over backwards. When he got up and looked over at Coraline, she was laughing at him.

"Nice try, Zack," she said, laughing.

"You try it then," he said.

"Alright," she said, nervously. She went up to the set of stairs, looked at it nervously, and walked over to where Zack had started from. She did not gain as much speed, so when she jumped the skateboard came out from underneath her. She fell as soon as she hit the ground. Zack started laughing, but stopped as soon as he realized that she hadn't gotten up yet.

"Coraline!" he yelled, running over to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I'm fine. Mind helping me get up?"

Zack held out his hand and Coraline took it, getting to her feet. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"You didn't break or sprain anything?" Zack asked, anxiously.

"Nope," she replied, smiling. "I'd know if I had. Trust me! I've broken quite a few bones."

"Oh."

Coraline started walking over to the stairs. "Hold it!" Zack said. "Where are you going?"

"Back over to the stairs," Coraline replied.

"What? But you just fell! Pretty hard, I might add!"

"So?"

"Don't you want to start out small? Do something else?"

"No," Coraline replied, simply. "If you fall, get back up again. Try, try, again!" With that, she walked up to the top of the stairs. She and Zack took turns doing the jump over the stairs. After about 30 minutes, neither of them had actually landed a jump, so they gave up and did some other tricks and stuff.

"I think I'm gunna head off now," Coraline said, after they had been skateboarding for about two hours. "It's been very fun skateboarding with you, though. I look forward to doing it again!"

"Yeah, same here," Zack replied, smiling. "I had a lot of fun, too. Any chance you'd like to sit with my friends and me?"

"Maybe. Would your friends mind?"

"I doubt it. You're a really cool person."

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome."

"Bye. I really do need to get going!"

"Alright. Goodbye, Coraline!" Zack said, and she skateboarded off down the street. Zack left soon after, going the other way down the street.

The next day at lunch… "Hey guys!" Zack said, loudly, walking over to where Cody, Barbara, Max and Tapeworm were sitting. Coraline was following him. Zack sat down next to Cody, and Coraline sat down next to Zack on his other side. Zack began to eat.

"Hi. I'm Coraline," Coraline said, introducing herself. Cody, Barbara, Max and Tapeworm introduced themselves.

"So, how do you know my brother?" Cody asked Coraline.

"She sits in front of me in geography," Zack replied, before Coraline could respond.

"I believe I was supposed to answer, Zack," Coraline said, looking at him.

"Oh," he said, simply.

"Anyways… Yeah, I sit in front of him in geography, but he barely even spoke to me until yesterday, when we were at the skateboard park," Coraline said.

"You skateboard?" Max asked.

"Yeah," Coraline replied.

"She's really good," Zack added.

"Hey," said Seth, suddenly appearing next to Tapeworm.

Tapeworm gasped, slightly startled. "Oh. Hi Seth," he said.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I wanted to give you Blaine's address," Seth said, handing Zack a piece of paper. "His cell phone number is on there too, in case you get lost."

"I doubt we will," Cody said. "He lives very close to us. But, thanks anyways."

"No problem," Seth said. "See you at 8:00!"

"Bye," Zack said, and Seth walked away.

"What was that about?" Coraline asked.

"Oh. He invited us to a party tonight," Tapeworm said.

"You could probably come if you wanted to," Zack said, hopefully.

"Nah. I've already got plans with my family," Coraline replied.

"Oh," Zack replied.

"Thanks anyways, though," Coraline replied.

"No problem," Zack replied. The group then went back to their usual conversation, until the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.


	3. The Party

**Chapter Three – The Party**

"Cody, you and I are going to a high school party!" Zack said as they were getting ready that evening.

"So?" Cody replied, putting on a white button-down shirt.

"Our first high school party, Cody!" Zack said.

"And?" Cody asked, putting on a pair of khaki pants.

"Couldn't you at least try to appear cool?" Zack asked snidely.

"What do you mean?"

"Your outfit."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing. You just look like a dork! Plain button-down shirts are so not cool, brother!"

"Oh."

"Wear that," Zack said, tossing Cody a blue button-down shirt with flames on it.

"I thought you said button-down shirts aren't cool?"

"No. I said that plain button-down shirts aren't cool. Khakis aren't cool either, by the way!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. They look particularly uncool with that shirt – my shirt! Wear these!" Zack said, tossing him a pair of light blue jeans.

"Cody looked at them. "They have holes in them."

"Ok. And your point is?"

"I'm not wearing something with holes in it. I own a couple of pairs of jeans, ya know?"

"Then wear them! Oh, and don't even think of wearing those leather shoes you always wear! Even dorkier!"

"Okay. Then what should I wear, 'Mr. Cool'? Sneakers?"

"Yup."

Cody went to his closet to find his sneakers. "So how do I look? Cool enough?"

"Decent. You'll pass for cool. Just untuck your shirt," Zack said, laughing. He was wearing an Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt, dark blue jeans and Converses.

"Just then, the doorbell rang. Carey answered it. "Zack! Cody! Tapeworm's here!" Carey yelled, after she opened the door. Zack and Cody walked out their door and into the living room. "Have fun at the party! If you run into trouble at the party, call me!" Carey said as they walked out the door.

"Bye mom!" Cody and Zack yelled.

"I'll lead the way. If Zack does, he'll get us lost," Cody said, while they were riding on the elevator.

"I wouldn't get us lost!" Zack said, defending himself.

"Do you even know where Blaine lives?" Tapeworm asked, teasingly.

"No. He stole the directions from me!" Zack said pointing at his brother.

"With good reason!" You got lost in the mall!" Tapeworm said, laughing.

"It's a big place!" Zack replied, defensively.

"You've been there a ton of times!" Tapeworm said.

"Plus, it's not exactly that big!" Cody said, matter-of-factly. "It's the smallest mall in Boston."

"How do you know that?" Zack asked.

"I read it somewhere," Cody replied.

"Of course," Zack said

"Where?" Tapeworm asked.

"I don't remember," Cody admitted.

"Who cares?" Zack asked, bored of the conversation. By this time they had arrived at the bike rack and unlocked their bikes. They then started riding to Blaine's house. They talked about various subjects. They were, of course, ten minutes early.

Blaine was standing on his front porch. He was tall with jet-black hair. He was wearing camo pants and a plain dark green t-shirt. Zack looked at his watch, as he, Cody and Tapeworm locked their bikes to the fence in front of Blaine's house. Zack walked up to the house first closely followed by Cody and Tapeworm.

"Hi, I'm Zack Martin," Zack said, introducing himself.

"Who?" Blaine asked.

"Zack Martin," Zack replied. "A guy by the name of Seth invited me…"

"Oh yeah!" Blaine said, remembering something. "Seth said he might invite someone. Who are you?" he said, noticing Cody and Tapeworm.

"Cody Martin," Cody said. "I'm his twin brother."

"Marvin McAdams," Tapeworm said. "But you can call me Tapeworm. Everybody does!"

"Tapeworm, eh?" Blaine asked. Tapeworm just nodded. "Cool name!"

"Thanks," Tapeworm said.

"So did Seth invite you two as well?" Blaine asked.

"No actually," Zack replied. "I asked Seth if I could bring them."

"Oh," Blaine said. "Cool. What grade are you guys in?"

"We're freshmen," Cody said.

"Cool," Blaine replied.

"What grade you in?" Tapeworm asked.

"I'm a junior," Blaine replied.

"Cool. Is Seth in your grade, too?" Cody asked.

"Nah. He's a frosh, like you three," Blaine replied.

"Really?" Zack asked. "He looks old for a freshman."

"Technically he's supposed to be a sophomore, but he failed most of his classes last year, so he got held back. Most of my class calls him a froshmore!" Blaine said, chuckling.

"Hah. That's funny," Tapeworm said, laughing.

"Speaking of Seth, is he here yet?" Zack asked.

"No," Blaine replied. "You three are the only ones here. You're early, though. Seth usually shows up a bit late!"

"Oh," Zack replied.

"Where are your parents?" Cody asked.

"They're gone for the weekend," Blaine replied, smirking. "Why would I be having this party if they weren't out of town?"

"You wouldn't," Zack replied, smirking as well. "Cody is new to the party scene. Excuse us for a minute." The three walked a few feet away from Blaine. "You nerd!" Zack whispered, irritatedly. "Why'd you ask that?"

"Seth said Blaine's parents would be here!" Cody replied. "I was just asking where they were, since they were supposed to be here."

"Cody! You idiot!" Zack said, still whispering. "Seth lied. Blaine's parents were never going to be here!"

"Why'd he say they were going to be there?" Cody asked. "Why'd he lie?"

"Because you asked the dorkiest question, ever!" Zack said. He couldn't believe he had to explain this – the 'code' of cool high school parties.

"Nobody has parents present at high school parties!" Tapeworm said, chiming in. "At least none of the cool high school parties do! Didn't you see his smirk when he replied?"

"No," Cody replied. "I missed that, I guess."

"Well, he obviously thought you were the biggest dork on the face of the planet," Zack said. "Which I can't say I disagree right now."

"We should leave," Cody said, urgently. "Going to a party with no adult supervision is not a good idea!"

"Are you kidding me?" Zack asked. "We leave now and we will be considered extremely uncool! That will give us such a bad reputation!"

"But-" Cody began.

"Dude, if things seem like they're going to get out of control, then we can leave then!" Tapeworm interrupted.

"But-" Cody began, again.

"No," Zack interrupted. "We aren't leaving now! There is no point!"

"But I still-" Cody began, again.

"C'mon, Cody!" Tapeworm said. "I don't want to leave! I'm already sort of uncool! I don't want to be labeled as more uncool and neither do you!"

"But-" Cody began one more time.

"C'mon Cody! Blaine seemed responsible enough! Nothing's going to happen!" Zack said, irritatedly.

"Fine!" Cody said. "I give up. You guys obviously aren't going to listen to me! We'll stay, but if I see or hear about anything illegal or dangerous, we're leaving!"

"Let's get back to the porch, shall we?" Zack said. They walked back to the porch, where Blaine was standing with a puzzled look on his face.

"Five minutes later, people started showing up. Zack, Cody and Tapeworm were now standing in the entryway of Blaine's house. Blaine was standing on the porch, greeting people. "Hey Candi!" Blaine said flirtingly to one of the girls who had just arrived. She had short blonde hair and was wearing a tube-top and a micro-mini skirt.

"I've told you before, Blaine!" Candi said. "I'm not interested in you!"

"Oh right…" Blaine said. "You like Seth."

Candi turned slightly pink.

"Give up!" Blaine said. "He isn't interested in you! Plus, he's too young for you!"

"He's a year younger than me!" Candi replied.

"He's a freshman!" Blaine retorted.

"Because he failed a year!"

"And why do you think he failed?"

"I know why he failed! I'm not stupid or naïve. He failed because he's a stoner! He was too busy getting high and whatnot! Who cares? I definitely don't!" Candi said, walking into the house and away from Blaine.

"Hey Seth," Candi said, walking towards him when he walked into the house a few minutes later. "You're looking good tonight! When did you get your eyebrow pierced?"

"Yesterday," Seth replied. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a Metallica logo, baggy black pants with chains, black sneakers and spiked bracelets. Along with his new eyebrow piercing, he was wearing his usual fang earrings and a lip piercing which he rarely wore. "Ya like?" he asked, flirtingly.

"Absolutely," Candi replied, just as flirtingly. "It looks good on you!"

"You look good too," Seth replied, walking away. _You're lying Blaine_, Candi thought, smiling. _He does like me!_

"Hey Zack," Seth said, walking over to him, Cody and Tapeworm. "Glad to see you came! The real party doesn't start until later, though."

"What do you mean?" Zack asked.

"You'll see…" Seth replied, walking away.

"Forty-five minutes later, Seth had invited Zack, Cody and Tapeworm into the den of Blaine's house, along with about half of the people at the party. "Here's where the real party begins!" Seth said.

"Where's Blaine?" asked Zack.

"He doesn't come to this part of the party," Seth replied.

"Why?" asked Cody, inquiringly.

"Cuz he's lame!" Candi said, snidely. "He thinks what we all do here is dangerous."

"Oh," replied Cody, uneasily. "Is it?"

"Nah," Seth replied. "He's not lame, Candi. He has just bought into the crap that people keep telling us teenagers. It's stupid, really!"

"Yeah," said Tyler Stone. "Right you are, Seth. I feel bad for him, though. He's missing out on a lot of fun." A few others murmured in agreement, including Seth.

"I don't feel bad for him," Candi said, snidely. "Like I said before he's lame! He made the choice not to join in."

"Candi, like I said before, he isn't lame!" Seth retorted. "He did host this party!"

"Whatever," Candi said. "Let's get this party started!"

"I'll second that!" Tyler said. At once, the teens at the party took plastic bags out of their pockets. They emptied the bags into a bowl on a table in the middle of the room.

"Where's the Red Bull?" yelled one boy. "You can't have a party without it!"

"I've got some!" yelled another boy.

Cody, Zack and Tapeworm looked at the bowl on the table closely. There was pills of all colors in the bowl. Some of the kids had already started to grab handfuls of the pills and were presently knocking them down with alcohol or Red Bull.

"Guys," Cody said to Zack and Tapeworm, who were both drinking a Red Bull. "I don't know if we should be here… I've got a bad feeling about all of this!"

"What do you mean?" Zack asked.

"Hey guys!" Seth said, walking up behind them, grabbing a handful of pills and knocking them back with alcohol. "There's plenty for everyone, dudes, so dig in!"

Zack grabbed a few pills and took a sip of his Red Bull. Tapeworm cautiously followed suit. Cody just looked at both of them uneasily. "You're sure this isn't dangerous, right?"

"Nah," Seth responded nonchalantly. "I mean, doctors prescribe this stuff to people. Can't be that dangerous, right?"

"I guess…" Cody said, not entirely convinced.

"C'mon brother!" Zack said, "Don't miss out on the fun!"

"Yah man," Tapeworm said. "Try it!"

A few others murmured in agreement. Some sounded as if they were already high, but they were also the ones who had knocked the drugs back with alcohol.

"Alright!" Cody said. "I'll do it! Hand me a Red Bull… I'm not drinking any alcohol! That's dangerous and illegal for sure!"

"Whatever," Seth said, drunkenly. He handed Cody a Red Bull. Cody cautiously grabbed a few pills from the bowl and slowly swallowed them, drinking some Red Bull afterwards. _I'm still not too sure about this_, Cody thought.

A half an hour later, everybody in the room was high. Cody sat on the couch in a daze. Zack was happily chatting up a blonde girl who was wearing a mini-skirt and halter top. She was looking flirtingly at Zack. Tapeworm was trying to get the attention of a short brunette, who was ignoring him and flirtingly looking at a tall, thin boy with messy, black hair. The boy had an emo look to him and had caught the attention of several other girls. Tyler Stone had disappeared to a closet with a senior girl. Seth and Candi were on one of the couches making out. Behind that couch, a girl was already passed out. She wasn't the last. By the end of the evening, several others had passed out. Cody was in too much of a daze himself to notice them. Otherwise, he would have probably freaked out.

By midnight, everyone who had passed out had regained consciousness and were heading drunkenly to the door. Pretty much everyone else had come off of their highs and were heading towards the door. Zack and Cody said goodbye to Tapeworm and rode quickly back home to the hotel.

"Boys…" Carey said, sternly. "It's 12:20!"

"Sorry," Cody said. "We lost track of time!"

"Yeah," Zack added.

"Well…" Carey said. "Fine, you aren't in trouble! But, next time, watch your watches and don't come home so late. Try to get home by 11:30 next time!"

"Yeah, sure mom," Zack said, slurring his words a bit. He started walking to his room.

"Hold it, Zachary Martin!" Carey shouted, noticing her son's slurred words.

"What?" Zack asked, impatiently.

"What's going on? Where were you tonight?" Carey asked, interrogatively.

"A party! You knew that already, mom!" Zack said, still slurring his words.

"Why are you slurring your words, Zack?" Carey asked. _What in the world went on at that party?_ she thought, concernedly.

"I'm tired, mom!" Zack said. _That isn't entirely a lie_, Zack thought.

_I've stayed up really late quite a few times_, she thought, considering Zack's excuse. _I remember those times I stayed up for over 24 hours… I was slurring my words, I think. So, Zack's possibly telling the truth… Plus, my boys are smart! Even Zack's smart enough not to get into trouble with alcohol and drugs… He's telling the truth_.

"Hello!" Zack said, somewhat impatiently. "Earth to mom!"

"Oh," Carey said. "Sorry. I was just thinking."

"Well, can I go to bed now?" Zack said, yawning.

"Yeah," Carey replied. "Sorry for interrogating you… I just thought… well… I was wrong. Plus, you guys are smart enough to stay away from drugs and stuff. Goodnight boys!"

"Goodnight mom," Cody and Zack said, heading to their room. Within 15 minutes, they had both changed into pajamas and brushed their teeth.

"That was one crazy party," Cody said, getting into bed.

"Yeah…" Zack said, sleepily. "But we can talk about that later. I'm going to sleep!"

Cody didn't argue. They were both asleep within ten minutes.

Chapter Four – After the Party


	4. After The Party

Chapter Four – After the Party

"Ouch!" Zack said waking up the next morning. "My head hurts!"

"Ouch!" Cody said. "So does mine! You know what? I think Seth is a liar."

"Huh?"

"I think that whatever we took last night is causing these headaches and we're both lucky all we have is a headache. That stuff is dangerous, probably."

"Nah. I doubt it. I felt fine until now!"

"I didn't. I don't remember much of last night, but if I remember correctly, I spent most of last night being pretty out of it."

"And that's bad?"

"Yes. I'm not doing that stuff again… Even if Seth is telling the truth."

"Alright. Suit yourself. I'm going again," Zack said, walking toward the door. "I'm getting an aspirin. You want one?"

"Yeah. I guess."

"Cool," Zack said. He returned in a minute with two glasses of water and two aspirins. "Here," he said handing a glass and an aspirin to Cody.

"I think we should tell mom," Cody said, after swallowing an aspirin and some water.

"Huh?" Zack said. "What?"

"I think it'd be smart to tell mom."

"I don't think that we need to. I don't see the point."

"What if that stuff is dangerous? What if there is worse stuff to come, Zack?"

"I doubt it's dangerous. Like Seth said, that stuff is prescribed to people by doctors! It can't be dangerous!"

"But prescription drugs have side-"

"Look. They're not dangerous. If they were, doctors wouldn't prescribe them!"

"But-"

"Even if they are, do you really want to tell mom? Do you really want to tell mom that her very intelligent, honors student took pills to get high? Do you really want to get into trouble for that?"

"Well, no… But-"

"Especially since you've come away from the experience unharmed. Well, other than a minor headache."

"Well… I-"

"And you've already said you have no plans to ever go again. Seems to me getting in trouble would be pointless now…"

"Well… Alright I guess… Mom doesn't really need to know."

"Good. What are you doing today?"

"I'm just going to the library to do some studying. You?"

"Skatepark. Where else would I go on a Saturday?"

"Good point," Cody said. The rest of the day passed without incident. So did Sunday.

"Hey Blaine!" Zack said, greeting him as he walked by in the hallway on Monday. "Awesome party!"

"Oh, hi Zack," Blaine said, distractedly. "Thanks… I have to get to class. I'll talk to you later."

At lunch, Max and Barbara were at different clubs, so they were not sitting with Tapeworm and Cody. Coraline had decided to sit with other friends. That left Cody, Tapeworm and Zack sitting together.

"So," Tapeworm said. "Did you guys have fun at the party?"

"Totally!" Zack replied. "Did you?"

"Yeah!" Tapeworm replied. "It was like nothing I've experienced before!"

"I know!" Zack replied.

"I personally didn't have that much fun. It's not an experience I wish to repeat!" Cody said, grimacing.

"Your loss!" Zack and Tapeworm said together.

"If you guys really think it was that much fun, you should read this article. You'll recognize one of the names in here," Cody said, getting a newspaper out of his backpack. He opened it to the second page and handed it to Zack. The article was only a few paragraphs:

_**Local Teen Dies of Suspected Overdose**_

_18 year-old Tyler Stone, a promising senior at Cheevers High School, was found dead in a closet in one of his friend's home. The friend admits that Stone was one of multiple friends who attended a so-called 'pharming party' that was held in addition to a traditional gathering. A pharming party is a party in which teenagers abuse prescription drugs to get high. The parties usually take place when parents are away, as was the case with this party. These parties are dangerous and potentially fatal, as evidence by Stone's unfortunate death. The exact cause of Stone's death will not be known until the autopsy is performed. However, the cause is most certainly some type of accidental overdose._

_Tyler Stone had a GPA of 3.75 and was well-liked by many students. He was in choir all four years and participated in musical the last three years. Funeral arrangements have not been set._

_It is unknown whether the friend who hosted the party will be charged formally for his involvement. The friend has no prior record._

"Whose name are we supposed to recognize?" asked Tapeworm.

"Tyler Stone," Zack said, comprehending what was going on. "I remember him… He introduced himself to me! Tapeworm, he was the guy who said he felt sorry for Blaine."

"Oh yeah," Tapeworm said. "He said he felt sorry Blaine was missing out on the fun."

_Maybe Cody's right_, Zack thought. _Maybe these parties really are dangerous_._ Oh, Seth's comin' over here._

"Hey guys," Seth said. "Did you enjoy the party?"

"Uh. Yeah!" Zack and Tapeworm said.

"No," Cody said.

"Oh, well that type of party is not for everyone!" Seth said to Cody. "But I'm glad to hear you two enjoyed it!"

"Yeah," Zack said.

"Did you enjoy it enough to come again?" Seth asked.

"Well…" Zack said. "I was willing to come again, but there's some events that have happened that are making me question whether it's really safe to go…"

"Oh," Seth said. "You mean Tyler Stone's death?"

"Yeah," Tapeworm replied. "How'd you hear about it? You don't seem like a newspaper reader to me!"

"Oh. I'm not," Seth replied. "I never read the paper. Blaine told me…" _More like __accused__ me_, Seth thought. _How was I supposed to know where he was? How was I supposed to know he had gone into that closet? I don't keep track of everyone at my parties… That'd be __impossible__!_

"Oh. He must be pretty freaked out!" Zack said.

"Yeah. He is," Seth said. "His parents have grounded him until he graduates!"

"Oh. He isn't facing any charges, is he?" Tapeworm asked.

"Huh?" Seth replied.

"The newspaper said something about possible formal charges?" Zack asked.

"For what? He didn't do anything wrong!" Seth replied.

"Then why is he grounded?" Cody asked.

"Because his parents think that it's his fault!" Seth replied, rolling his eyes.

"It's not?" Cody replied.

"No!" Seth replied. "Like I said before, what we did at the party isn't dangerous!"

"It's not?" Cody asked, incredulously.

"No!" Seth replied.

"Then why is this Tyler Stone guy dead?" Zack asked.

"Tyler Stone is an idiot. He cannot be trusted!" Seth replied. "He usually brings his own stuff, so I'll bet you anything he died due to something he brought himself."

"Oh," Zack said. "That makes sense!"

"I'm still not going to another of those parties," Cody said matter-of-factly. "And I don't think that these two-" he motioned to Tapeworm and Zack. "Should go either."

"That's up to them to decide," Seth said. "Are you guys interested in going again?"

"Possibly," Zack replied. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye!" Seth said, walking away.

On Thursday, Zack and Tapeworm were walking to their lunch table. On the way there, they ran into Seth. "Hi Zack! Hi Tapeworm!" Seth said, brightly.

"Oh," Zack said. "Hey Seth!"

"How are you?" Tapeworm said.

"Never better!" Seth said, happily. "And you guys?"

"Great!" Zack replied. Tapeworm nodded.

"Awesome!" Seth said. "Who are you guys sitting with today?"

"The same people we always sit with! My brother and his girlfriend, Barbara and Tapeworm's girlfriend, Max."

"Coraline sometimes sits with us too!" Tapeworm said.

"She usually sits with some of her other friends, though," Zack added.

"Ahh," Seth said. "Any chance you want a break from the usual? Want to sit with my friends and I?"

"It's me," Tapeworm said, automatically.

Zack elbowed Tapeworm as if to say 'shut up'. "Yeah sure!" Zack said. "I wanted to talk to you anyways."

"About the party?" Seth asked, walking over to the lunch table he and his friends were sitting at. "Are you coming to another one?"

"I'm still not sure," Zack said, between bites of his slice of pizza. Tapeworm nodded.

"You should!" Candi said. "You had fun, right?"

"Yeah," Zack replied.

"Totally," Tapeworm added.

"So why the maybe?" asked another girl.

_Why do I feel like I know her_? Tapeworm thought, looking intently at the girl. She had long brown hair and was relatively short.

"Well that one kid," Zack said, uneasily. "Tyler somethin'?"

"Stone?" asked another girl. She was blonde.

"Yeah," Tapeworm replied. "Him!"

"He died at last week's party!" Zack exclaimed.

"Yeah. So?" Candi asked, nonchalantly.

"He died!" Tapeworm replied. "Probably due to the drugs at that party! The drugs that all of us were doing!"

"No," Seth said, firmly. "Don't you remember what I said when I was talking to you and Cody?"

"Cody?" asked the blonde girl.

"My brother," Zack replied.

"That one nerdy kid?" asked a boy named Eli. He was tall, thin and had messy, black hair.

"I tried to get him to not look like a nerd, but, yeah, 'that nerdy kid' qualifies," Zack replied.

"Oh, now I remember him," the girl replied.

"Yeah," Seth said. "Anyways… Do you remember?"

"No," Zack and Tapeworm both replied.

"I said that Tyler often brought his own stuff," Seth replied.

"And?" Tapeworm replied.

"That's what led to Tyler's death!" Candi exclaimed. "The stuff he brought!"

"Oh really?" Zack asked, incredulously.

"Yes!" Seth replied. "Didn't you read the newspaper?"

"No," Zack replied. "I never read it. The only person I know that reads the newspaper under 18 is my brother!"

"You don't read it either!" Tapeworm said to Seth.

"No, but he-" Seth replied, motioning to Eli, who was sitting next to the blonde girl. "Does!"

"So what is in the newspaper?" Zack asked.

"Only the results of Tyler's autopsy," Eli replied. "He died due to a lethal combination of methadone and beer."

"And," said Candi. "There was an empty plastic bag in one of Tyler's pockets!"

"Which probably had methadone in it," Tapeworm said. "I don't think we really need to worry about these parties anymore, Zack!"

"I don't think we ever did," Zack said.

"Then it's settled," Tapeworm said. "We're going to the next party!"

"Awesome!" Candi said.

"Great!" Seth said. "It's tomorrow night! At my house!"

"Cool! We'll be there!" Zack said, excitedly.

"Yeah! Except for we don't know where it is or what time," Tapeworm said.

"Oh. It's at 7:00. Here's my address!" Seth said, handing a sheet of paper to Zack.

"I'll take that!" Tapeworm said, grabbing the paper from Zack.

"Hey!" Zack yelled, irritatedly. "Why'd you do that?"

"You lose stuff easily!" Tapeworm replied, putting the sheet of paper in his back pocket.

"Haha," Zack said, sarcastically. "Very funny!"

"Yeah," Seth said, interrupting. "Anyways, do yourself a favor."

"What?" Zack asked.

"Don't tell your brother you're going to the party!" Seth replied. "He has issues with these parties and doesn't think you should go to any. He might give you a hard time, Zack."

"Oh yeah," Zack said. "I'll just lie and say I'm going to a friend's house."

"Sounds good," Seth replied. The group talked until the bell rung.

The next evening, Zack was getting ready to go to the party. "Zack," Cody said. "Where are you going?"

"Oh," Zack said. _Think fast!_ he thought. "Tapeworm and I are hangin' out at a friend's house," He said.

"Whose?" Cody asked.

"Oh," Zack replied. "Uh… He's a friend from school. You don't know him."

"He's not one of the people from the party last week, is he?" Cody asked, inquiringly.

"Uh. No. I met him in gym class!"

"Oh. Cool."

"Yeah. I'd invite you, but I don't think my friend would want you to come, seeing as he doesn't know you."

"Oh. That's alright! Have fun!"

"Thanks. See ya bro!" Zack said, walking out the door.

"Zack," Tapeworm said, once Zack was downstairs. "Let's go!"

"Where are you going?" Maddie asked.

"A friend's house," Zack said, and he and Tapeworm walked out the hotel doors. They biked to Seth's house, talking excitedly about the party along the way.

The party was fun and was very similar to the previous week's party. Zack and Tapeworm both got home around 11:00, avoiding arguments with their parents over being too late. Zack was again slurring his words, but Carey again believed his excuse about being tired. Cody was asleep when Zack home, so he avoided confrontations with him.


	5. Coraline's Warning

**Chapter Five – Coraline's Warning**

"Hey Seth!" Zack said, walking over to the table where Seth, Candi and a few others were sitting.

"Oh. Hey Zack!" Seth said.

"Hey Tapeworm!" said the blonde girl, flirtingly.

"Oh. Hi, Helen," Tapeworm said. "Hey Lynn!"

"Oh. Hi," the short, brunette girl replied.

"Sup?" said Eli.

"Not a lotta," Zack replied.

"Mind if we sit with you?" Tapeworm asked. "My girlfriend's eating with some other friends…"

"And Cody and his girlfriend are at some geek club," Zack finished.

"Yeah, totally!" Lynn and Helen replied.

"Cool," Zack replied, sitting down.

"So," Seth said. "Did you guys have fun at the party?"

"Totally!" Tapeworm replied. Zack just nodded.

"Did your brother cause you any troubles?" Helen asked, looking at Zack.

"Nah," Zack said. "I just told him I was going to a friend's house. One that he didn't know-"

"So he wouldn't want to go to your friend's house too," Helen said, finishing his sentence.

"Smart plan!" Lynn said. "You got skills!"

"And, when I got home, I was slurring my words-" Zack said.

"Uh. Oh," Helen said, interrupting him. "That doesn't sound good!"

"Nah," Zack said, nonchalantly. "Cody wasn't awake. And, I told my mom that I was slurring her words because I was tired!"

"She believed it?" Lynn asked.

"Yup," Zack replied. "She said she remembered a time when she was so tired she was slurring her words."

"Wow," said the boy sitting next to Lynn. "Nice!"

"So," Helen said, flirtingly. "You guys coming to the next party?"

"Yeah. Totally!" Zack replied.

"Duh!" Tapeworm said.

"Saweet!" Seth said, excitedly. "It's at my house on Friday at 7:00!"

"Alright," Zack said.

"You need directions?" Seth asked.

"No," Zack replied. "We can find it!"

"Actually," Tapeworm said. "I'd like to have directions. I'm not entirely sure where your place is."

"Ok. Cool," Seth said, writing simple directions on a sheet of paper for Tapeworm and handing them to him. They all talked until the bell rung, signaling the end of lunch.

The rest of the week went by very quickly. Zack and Tapeworm sat with Seth and friends on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Friday, Zack again told Cody he was going to a friend's house and headed out the door. He met Tapeworm in the lobby and they biked off to Seth's house.

Meanwhile… Back at the hotel. _I'm starting to wonder if Zack's telling the truth about his friend in gym class,_ Cody thought, worriedly. _I think he may be going to those parties again. He and Tapeworm haven't been sitting with Barbara, Max and me for most of the week. Usually I wouldn't worry… Having other friends is totally cool, but I thought I saw him hanging with Seth. That kid is bad news! I wonder if I should tell mom… No, maybe not. Zack's not __that__ stupid! He wouldn't keep doing that stuff after that Tyler guy died. Plus, he wouldn't lie to me. I'm overreacting… He was probably just telling Seth off._

Zack came home around midnight. Carey had fallen asleep on the couch while watching the news. He walked quietly by her, so as not to wake her up. _Good!_ Zack thought. _Tonight's gunna be easy! No nagging mom…_ Then he walked into his room and saw Cody on his bed reading. _Uh. Oh. Not good! Definitely not good! _thought Zack, panicked. _I'll just brush my teeth first._ He walked to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and then walked back. He began putting on his PJs.

"Hey Zack," Cody said.

"Hey Cody," Zack said, trying not to slur his words.

He finished putting on his PJs. "Good night." Zack soon fell asleep. Cody followed suit fifteen minutes later.

The next Friday, Zack and Tapeworm were again sitting with Seth and friends. Cody, Barbara and Max were all sitting together at their usual table.

"Hey Coraline," Cody said, as she walked up. "Zack isn't here. I'm actually not sure where he is."

"Oh," Coraline said. "I'm not looking for him. I saw him sitting with that one red-headed kid who gave you directions to that party…"

"Oh no!" Cody said. "Not Seth! He's bad news!"

"Why?" Coraline asked.

"Let's just say he does some unwise things… Very unwise things!" Cody said, alarmed.

"Oh," Coraline said. "You might want to talk to him about it, then!"

"Yeah," Cody said. "I'm going to."

"So why'd you come here if you weren't looking for Zack?" Max asked.

"I wanted to show you all an interesting article I found in my aunt's _Reader's Digest_," answered Coraline. She handed a Xeroxed copy of the article to Cody. He then read it, shook his head, and handed it to Barbara, who also read it. She handed it to Max who read it, then handed it back to Coraline.

"Yikes!" Max said. "I had not heard about these 'pharming parties' before. They sound quite dangerous!" Barbara nodded. So did Cody, who had a somewhat guilty look on his face.

"Yeah," Coraline replied. "I've been to a party where that stuff was going on."

"You didn't partake, did you?" Barbara asked, shocked.

"No," Coraline replied. "I left when they started doing that. Even then, I knew that stuff was dangerous. I mean there's a reason why it's only supposed to be described by a doctor. It's safe when used for legitimate reasons, but dangerous when not."

"I hear ya," Cody said.

"Was this in Boston?" Max asked.

"No," Coraline replied. "It was back in Grandview Heights. I lived there before I came here."

"Grandview Heights?" Barbara asked.

"Ohio," Coraline replied. "It's a suburb of Columbus."

"Oh," Barbara said.

"I dunno if they have those parties here in Boston, thought," Coraline said, shrugging her shoulders. "They probably do!"

"They do," Cody said, frowning. _I should know_, he thought. Coraline, Barbara and Max looked at Cody suspiciously.

"How do you know?" Barbara asked.

"I've heard about them happening from people," Cody answered.

"Oh," Max replied.

"So yeah, I just wanted to tell you all about that. It seemed important," Coraline said. "Bye!" She walked away. The conversation at the table was subdued afterwards. Cody was especially quiet, thinking about the danger he and Zack had been in when they had participated in the pharming party at Blaine's house.

That evening Zack was getting ready for a party at Eli's house. Cody was on his bed reading.

"Hey, Zack?" Cody asked, looking over the top of his book.

"Sup?" Zack said, putting on a black shirt.

"How come you and Tapeworm weren't sitting with us at lunch today?" Cody asked.

"Uh," Zack replied. "Tapeworm and I got invited to sit with some friends."

"Seth?" Cody asked.

"Uh yeah," Zack replied. "How'd you know?"

"Coraline told me she saw you sitting with him."

"Oh."

"I don't think you should hang out with him."

"Why?"

"He's a bad influence. He's involved in some pretty dangerous stuff."

"Oh. Well I don't think that hanging out with him will lead to any trouble…"

"I beg to differ. I think that hanging out with him will ultimately lead to trouble."

"I don't agree."

"Why do you hang out with him anyways?"

"He's cool and he's fun to be around. You don't have to agree with what someone does to hang out with them, do you?"

"I guess not. Maybe you're right. Just be careful what you get into, okay?"

"Yeah sure. Whatever. You're starting to sound like mom!"

"You should have read the article Coraline had us read! It was very eye-opening!"

"What article?"

"Coraline brought an article from _Reader's Digest_ for us to read. It was about pharming parties."

"Oh."  
"That stuff's really dangerous, Zack."

"Yeah, yeah," Zack said, about to walk out the door. "Look I gotta go. Tapeworm and I are going to hang out a friend's house again."

"Who?"

"The one I hung out with last week."

"Oh," Cody said. He was unsure whether he should believe Zack. He was suspicious of his brother's recent activities. "He decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Have fun!"

"Bye Cody!" Zack said, walking out the door. He took the elevator downstairs.


	6. Last Party Ever

Chapter Six – Last Party… Ever

"Dude," Zack said, noticing Tapeworm sitting on the couch in the lobby. "Let's go!"

"Hey Zack," Tapeworm said, uneasily. "Maybe we shouldn't go to the party tonight…"

"What?" Zack asked. "Why? Are you crazy?"

"I've got a bad feeling about tonight. I get the feeling something bad is going to happen."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. I mean, how sure are we that doing the stuff that we do at these parties is safe?"

"Nothing has happened to us so far."

"But how do we know that the other shoe isn't going to drop?"

"Huh?"

"How do we know that nothing's gunna happen tonight?"

"Seth's been going to these parties for two years! Nothing's happened to him!"

"Well yeah. But-"

"But nothing. C'mon! Let's go! Time to partay!"

"Fine. Whatever! I'm bored of arguing," Tapeworm said. They walked out the door. They got onto their bikes and headed to Eli's house. They arrived slightly after the kids had communed in Eli's basement. Zack and Tapeworm knocked on Eli's door.

"Oh hey!" Seth said, opening the door. "You guys are late! The party's already begun!" He appeared to be already under the influence of drugs.

"Where's the host of the party?" asked Tapeworm.

"Eli is downstairs," Seth said. "He's too busy to answer the door, or at least he says he is."

"Tapeworm laughed. "Let's not waste time, Tapeworm," Zack said. "Time to party!"

"Uh," Tapeworm said. "Yeah. Time to party!"

"You don't seem too sure," Seth said, chuckling.

"Well I've just-" Tapeworm said.

"C'mon Tapeworm! Let's go!" Zack interrupted. "I'm sure Lynn wants to see you!"

"Lynn has no interest in me," Tapeworm said. "Plus, I have a girlfriend!"

"Oh yeah," Zack said. "And yet you flirt with other girls!"

"Tapeworm got a guilty look on his face. "Dude!" Seth said. "It's no big deal if you flirt with someone else!"

"Yeah man," Zack said. "I was just kidding."

"Now let's go!" Seth said. "I don't want to keep Candi waiting any longer."

"Tapeworm, Zack and Seth headed to Eli's basement. Zack and Tapeworm immediately grabbed a handful of pills from the communal bowl and knocked them back with some Red Bull."

Soon, Zack was feeling good and flirting with Helen. Candi and Seth were on a couch making out. Eli was in his bedroom with a red-headed girl. Tapeworm was chatting with Lynn, who was finally giving him the time of day.

Everyone was having a great time. But, after an hour, things started to go horribly wrong for Tapeworm. He and Lynn were talking to Zack and Helen, when he started to feel very dizzy and could hear his heart pounding. He was shaking as if it was extremely cold. _Uh oh_, he thought, before passing out on the couch near him.

"Tapeworm!" Zack yelled, hurrying over to the couch. He gently shook Tapeworm but his friend didn't move. He felt for a pulse and it was fast and erratic. "Lynn! Helen! I think we should call for an ambulance!"

"Why?" Lynn asked, nonchalantly.

"He won't wake up!" Zack said, worried. "Plus his skin's really cold! He's shaking really bad too!"

"That isn't bad," Helen said, nonchalantly. "People here pass out all the time! It's no big!"

Zack just looked at her. "Are you kidding?" He asked, incredulously. "Do they also end up with really fast pulse rates? Or shaking really badly?"

"Well," Lynn said, considering her answer. "No."

"But," Helen added. "It's probably nothing! I mean, nothing bad happen at these parties! Seth's been going to these parties for longer than I have, and he's never seen anything bad happen! I'm sure he's fine!"

"He's not fine!" Zack said, irritatedly. "Now I'm calling 9-1-1!"

"Dude!" Lynn said. "If you call 9-1-1 this party'll be busted and Eli will kill you!"

"I don't care!" Zack said. "Tapeworm's my friend. Now do either one of you have a cell phone?"

"You don't have one?" Helen asked.

"No, my mom won't let me get one!" Zack replied.

"Well that sucks for you! I'm not letting you use mine to call 9-1-1. I don't want Eli on my case!" Lynn replied.

"Neither do I!" Helen replied.

"Well then, I'll just find someone else with a phone!" Zack replied. "Where's Eli?"

"Are you kidding?" Lynn asked, sarcastically.

"Eli would never let you use his phone to call 9-1-1!" Helen said. "That'd be stupid!"

"Seth?" Zack asked.

They shook their heads 'no'.

"Fine then!" Zack said. "I'll just use Eli's house phone without asking!"

"I wouldn't do that! Helen yelled.

"I don't care!" Zack yelled back. "I'm wasting time arguing with you!"

Zack jogged upstairs in search of a phone. He found one in the kitchen. He dialed 9-1-1 as fast as he could.

"Hello," answered an old woman. "Emergency Services. What seems to be your emergency?"

"Uh hi," Zack said, nervously. "I'm at a party at a friend's house and one of my friends passed out five minutes ago. His skin's really cold and his pulse rate is rapid and he's shaking badly!"

"An ambulance will be there in fifteen minutes," the woman said. "Stay calm. Do not move your friend."

"Okay," Zack replied, hanging up. He hurried downstairs.

"You called 9-1-1, didn't you?" Lynn asked.

"Of course," Zack replied. "I said I was going to."

"You idiot!" Helen yelled. "I'd better tell Seth to make everyone leave! He's gunna be pissed!" She ran off to talk to Seth.

"Why does everyone have to leave?" Zack asked Lynn.

"These parties aren't exactly legal," Lynn replied.

"They aren't?"

"No."

"Nobody told me that! I wouldn't have come if I had known!"

"Why not? These parties are safe and they're fun!"

"Safe?" Zack asked. "You really think that they're safe?"

"Uh yeah," Helen said. "You're just freaking out for no reason at all!"

"Did you tell-" Lynn asked.

"Everyone needs to clear out!" Seth yelled. "Now! Someone called 9-1-1! Go out the back door!" There was a panic as everyone started rushing out of the basement that could. Those who had passed out were hidden behind stuff. The panic had subsided in three minutes. Seth, Lynn and Helen headed up the stairs.

Ding dong! The doorbell rang.

"Shoot!" Seth said. "I bet that's the ambulance!"

"Now what are we going to do?" Lynn asked.

"I don't want to get caught!" Helen said.

"Move it!" Zack said, coming up the stairs. "Now!"

"Fine!" Seth said. "I'm speaking to you later though, Zack! You've ruined a perfectly awesome party!"

"Whatever!" Zack replied, not really caring what Seth said. Seth, Helen and Lynn went up the stairs, exiting the basement. Zack followed and went to answer the door.

"Now what?" Helen asked. "We can't leave now!"

"We can hide in the hallway closet," Seth replied.

"That works!" Lynn replied. They quickly walked down the hall and clamored into the closet. It was a tight squeeze, but they all fit.

"Where's your friend?" one of the paramedics asked Zack when he opened the door.

"The basement," Zack replied. "Follow me!" The paramedics, four of them, followed Zack. Two of them were carrying a stretcher.

As they were walking down the stairs, another paramedic asked, "Were you here alone?"

"Oh," Zack replied. "No. There were a ton of people here."

"Where are they?"

"They left when they heard I had called 9-1-1," Zack replied, truthfully.

"Is this your home?"

"No. This is my friend's house. He hosted the party."

"Where are his parents?"

"I don't know," Zack said. Two of the paramedics were lifting Tapeworm onto a stretcher.

"What happened to him?" the paramedic asked.

"I don't entirely know," Zack replied. "We arrived a bit late. We came down here, grabbed a few pills, knocked them back with Red Bull, and started talking to people. Things were great until Tapeworm passed out when we were talking to him. Two of my other friends said it was no big deal, but I didn't believe them. I found a phone and called 9-1-1."

"What did your friend take?" asked the paramedic.

"I honestly don't know. I don't even know what I took!" Zack said, panicking. "He is going to be okay, right?"

"Hard to say," the paramedic responded, honestly. "The doctors will do what they can."

"We never should have come," Zack said, guiltily. "Cody was right. These parties are dangerous! Tapeworm had a bad feeling about tonight. He said he had the feeling that something bad was going to happen, but I ignored him! It's my fault if he dies."

"It's not your fault," the paramedic assured Zack. "And at least you did the right thing. Many young people wouldn't have called 9-1-1!"

"Yeah, I guess," Zack said. "I still feel guilty, thought. I mean, I thought that doing the stuff we were doing wasn't dangerous. I was wrong, I guess."

"You were taking prescription drugs, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Well, you're right and wrong. Prescription drugs are safe – when taken as directed by a doctor. If they aren't taken as directed-"

"They are dangerous. I get it. I just… I wish I'd gotten it before I got involved."

"Well, I'm just glad you've learned something. Too many teenagers don't learn until it's really too late."

"Hey kid!" said one of the other paramedics. They had already put Tapeworm on the ambulance.

"Uh yeah?" Zack replied.

"You gunna ride in the back?" the paramedic asked.

"Uh, yeah," Zack said. Without a word, he climbed into the back of the ambulance. The sirens were turned on and it quickly sped to the nearest hospital. _Cody and mom are both going to kill me_, Zack thought. _I think I'll talk to Cody first, though_.


	7. Aftershock

- 7 -

Chapter Seven – Aftershock

The ambulance arrived at the hospital around fifteen minutes later. "Why don't you go wait in the reception area, kid?" the emergency room doctor said, when he saw Zack. The doctor was young-looking and blonde and looked very tired.

"Okay," Zack replied. "I should call my family, anyhow."

"Alright kid," the doctor said, and Zack left the emergency room. He walked down to the reception room and asked the receptionist where the payphone was. He went where she said to go, put two quarters in the phone and dialed his home phone number.

"Hello?" said Carey, answering the phone.

"Hi mom," Zack replied. Even over the phone, Carey could hear that he was slurring his words. "May I talk to Cody, please?"

"Uh yeah, sure," Carey replied. She then yelled, "Cody! Zack's on the phone! He wants to talk to you!"

"Coming mom!" Cody said. He ran into the living room and took the cordless phone from his mother. "Hi Zack! What's up?"

"Nothing good," Zack replied. "You were right!"

Cody was walking back to his room. "About what?" he asked, confused. Then he realized how Zack didn't sound normal. "Have you taken something?"

"Yes," Zack replied. "Tapeworm and I have still been going to those parties!"

"You idiot!" Cody said. "So that 'friend' from gym class -"

"Was just a lie to keep you from figuring out," Zack replied, guiltily. "I'm sorry!"

"And hanging out with Seth?"

"Mostly because I thought he and his friends were cool! But they did tell me when a party was happening."

"Of course! They probably hosted them!"

"Yeah. They did."

"I'm telling mom! I should have told her a long time ago. If I had -"

"I probably wouldn't have still been going to these parties! I know. And go ahead and tell mom. I was already planning on telling her."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. You were right. These parties are dangerous."

"Wait a minute. Where are you calling from?"

"The hospital. The party -"

"The hospital? How'd you get there? Zack, you idiot!"

"Cody! Calm down! It's not me that's in the hospital! Tapeworm is!"

"What?"

"Like I was trying to say, things got a bit out of hand. The party was going great at first. But then Tapeworm passed out and I knew something was up. After some squabbles with partiers – they didn't think anything was wrong – I called 9-1-1 from Eli's home phone."

"Eli? Who's Eli?"

"He's Seth's friend. He hosted the party. Anyways, so I called 9-1-1. Seth got word I had called and had everyone leave. Did you know these parties aren't exactly legal?"

"No, really? Ya think? Most things that are dangerous and pointless are illegal!"

"I guess I should have realized that."

"Have Tapeworm's parents been told?"

"Not yet. I'm not sure if I should be the one to tell them."

"You should. You can tell them best what happened."

"It'll be so hard to face them. I mean, it's partly my fault. I encouraged Tapeworm to go! He had the feeling that something bad was going to happen, but I ignored him, and told him that nothing was going to happen. How do I face his parents? How?"

"I'm not saying that it'll be easy, but you have to do it. How is Tapeworm anyways?"

"I don't know. We just got here! The doctor kicked me out and told me to wait in the waiting room."

"Oh. Well, I'm coming then."

"What are you going to tell mom?"

"The truth. I'm even going to tell her about myself going."

"I'll tell her. I should be the one to do so, anyways. Just like I'm going to be the one to tell Tapeworm's mom and dad."

"Well, you should do it soon."

"I don't have the McAdams' number, but I'll talk to mom."

"Alright. I'm gunna give her the phone right now, then."

"Go ahead," Zack said, resignedly.

"Mom! Zack wants to talk to you! It's important!" Cody yelled, walking out of his room. He handed the phone to Carey.

"Hi mom," Zack said, sighing.

"Hey son," Carey replied. "What's up? What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I kinda did something sort of stupid," Zack said, hesitantly.

"What did you break now?"

"It's not that, mom."

"Oh?"

"You know how I've come home on Fridays slurring my words?"

"Yeah. You've said it was because you were tired."

"Well, I lied. It wasn't because I was tired."

"Zack! What trouble are you getting yourself into?"

"Let me start at the beginning. Just listen, mom. Please?"

"Go on."

Zack told Carey the whole story, pausing only when she had something to say. He didn't leave anything out and was honest about his own stupidity and Cody's intelligent actions following the party. "...So now I'm standing here at this payphone," Zack said, nearing the end of the story. "Tapeworm's in the emergency room. I'm not even sure if he'll survive. One of my good friends could die, because of my own stupid actions. Because I'm too easily influenced by peer pressure. Because I don't listen. Because I'm stupid enough to listen to Seth, a kid who's not much older than I am, who I barely know, instead of my very intelligent brother. Because I'm not smart enough to ask an adult if what I was doing really was safe. The answer obviously would have been no. I wish Cody had told you after that first party."

"Do you think that would've stopped you?" Carey asked, simply. She knew how stubborn her son was.

"Yes," Zack said, with fake confidence. "Maybe... No, probably not. I'm probably too stubborn. Bad experiences are probably the only thing I learn from." There was silence for a minute. "Mom," Zack said quietly, breaking the silence. "Do you have Tapeworm's parents number?"

"Uh yeah," Carey said. "Why?"

"I need to call them about Tapeworm. I figure it'd be better if I was the one to tell them," Zack said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Alright. Lemmie look it up," Carey said, looking up the McAdams' number in her address book. "Here. Tom and Melissa McAdams, 555-9547."

"Thanks mom," Zack said, sighing.

"Welcome. Cody and I will be coming soon."

"Alright. See you mom," Zack said, hanging up.

_Better not waste time,_ thought Zack. _Better face the music..._

Zack inserted 50¢ into the payphone and dialed the number that Carey had given him. "Hello. McAdams' residence. Who may I ask is calling?" Melissa asked, answering the phone.

"Uh hi. It's Zack Martin," Zack said.

"Oh," Melissa said. "Is Tapeworm still with you?"

"Uh... uh," Zack replied, unsure what to say. "That is why I called."

"Did something happen to Tapeworm?" Melissa asked, worriedly.

"Uh yeah..." Zack said, cautiously. Zack told her the whole story. "I'm sorry Mrs. McAdams. This whole thing is my fault. If I hadn't asked him to come, he wouldn't have gotten involved and into this trouble!"

"It's not entirely your fault. Tapeworm also chose to come. He could have chosen not to."

"He didn't want to go tonight. I pressured him into it."

"It's still not your fault, Zack. And, when you noticed that Tapeworm was in trouble, you reacted immediately. That may have saved his life."

"Maybe, but I still feel guilty. If I had known -"

"You wouldn't have gone. Hindsight is 20/20, I know. Tom and I should come to the hospital soon, so I should hang up. I'll see you later, Zack."

"Bye," Zack said, quietly. He hung up the phone. He walked back to the waiting area and sat down. _My head hurts_! Zack thought, as he sat there.

"Hey kid!" said the doctor Zack had met earlier. "I'm Dr. Jesse Travis and I -"

"How is my friend?" Zack asked, interrupting the doctor. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to tell you," Dr. Travis said. He looked truly sorry. _Poor kid_! He thought. _His friend is in the hospital and he can't even find out how he is._

"Why?" Zack asked, insistently.

"I'm sorry, but it's policy of the hospital to only disclose information about minors to their parents. Are his parents here?"

"No, but they're coming soon. My mother and my brother are coming too."

"Oh, well tell his parents to see me when they arrive," Dr. Travis said, leaving the room.

Meanwhile at home... After Carey and Zack hung up, Carey knocked on Cody's door. "Mom, did Zack tell you the whole story?" Cody asked, nervously.

"Yes. I'm very disappointed... in both of you," Carey replied, sternly. "But we'll talk about it in the car."

Cody reluctantly followed his mom downstairs.

"Hey!" Mr. Moseby said as Carey and Cody walked into the lobby. "Where are you two going at such a late hour?"

"Uh... "Cody said, unsure of what to say.

"Where's Zack? I never saw him come home tonight," Mr. Moseby said.

"Uh..." Cody said.

"It's a long story," Carey said, quickly. "We'll tell you later. We've gotta go."

"Bye!" Mr. Moseby said.

"See ya Carey! Bye Cody!" Esteban said as they walked out the door. They headed to the car.

"I want to hear your side of the story," Carey said as she buckled her seatbelt.

"Oh," Cody said. "Well, when I found out that there wasn't adult supervision, I tried to get Zack and Tapeworm to leave, but they didn't want to."

"Why?" Carey asked.

"It would make us look 'uncool', apparently. According to Zack, Blaine seemed responsible enough."

"Ah. And was he?"

"Not really. He did host the party, which had a pharming party in the basement."

"A what?"

"Pharming party. It's a technical term for the party that Zack and I went to."

"Oh. So why did you decide to stay? You could have left."

"I didn't want to leave Zack and Tapeworm there by themselves and I wanted us to stay together as a group. And maybe I didn't want to feel uncool."

"Cody! What have I told you about being cool and popularity?"

"That it's not important. That I should trust my instincts and do what's right, even if it's uncool. I guess I just forgot."

"I guess so. So, according to Zack, you were more hesitant about the prescription drugs. Why?"

"I guess that I was hesitant because I had doubts that what was going on was safe."

"Because it wasn't."

"Well yeah. But Seth said that it was. He said that it wasn't dangerous because doctors prescribe the stuff to people. I started to believe him, but wasn't fully convinced."

"Prescription drugs are prescribed by doctors, but they aren't completely safe. They're only safe when a doctor prescribes them and they're used correctly. If they're not, they are dangerous and very possibly deadly."

"I know that now, mom. Tapeworm, Zack and everyone at the party started pressuring me to take some, so I finally gave into peer pressure. I know that's not like me, but I just got tired of people thinking of me as uncool. My own brother thinks I am an absolute dork and calls me it at least twice a week!"

"He does do that, but it shouldn't get to you. "As for popularity -"

" I know what you think, mom. I just forgot. I made a mistake that easily could have cost me my life! I know that, mom!"

"So, did you have fun at the party?"

"No. I was out of it most of the night. I just sat on the couch for several hours! And, I also had a humongous headache in the morning."

"That's called a hangover."

"Yeah, mom. I knew that. After I woke up with the headache, I told Zack that I didn't have any fun at the party and that I wasn't going to one again. He just said, 'Fine, suit yourself', that he was going again. After Zack got both us an aspirin, I told him I was thinking about telling you. I told him that what we had done was dangerous, but he said that telling you would be pointless, since I wasn't planning on ever going again. I agreed with his reasoning and didn't tell you. That ended up being a mistake, because Zack kept going."

"Knowing Zack, he would have snuck around behind my back. Sometimes one has to learn lessons the hard way."

"And I didn't even know until tonight that he was still going! He lied to me, his twin brother, and told me he was going to a different friend's house! He lied to me! I can't believe that!"

"I know. It's hard for me to believe, too, Cody."

"I did get slightly suspicious when he was hanging out with Seth and friends at lunch, but I brushed it off, thinking I was overreacting and that Zack wouldn't lie to me. I confronted him about it, before he, unbeknownst to me, went to the party tonight."

"What'd he say?"

"That he didn't have to agree with what someone did to be friends with them. I sort of agreed. I told him about this article that our friend Coraline had me read."

"Coraline?"

"She's this new girl from school that Zack seems to have a crush on. "She's really smart and nice."

"Hmm... That's different. Zack usually likes -"

"Dumb blondes, I know. The article was about pharming parties and how dangerous they are. Zack just nodded along, said goodbye and left. I again doubted whether he was telling the truth, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"And how'd that work out?"

"Not well, obviously. We should be thankful for one thing, though."

"What?"

"Zack's not in the hospital."

"Yeah."

"So, mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Zack and I are probably grounded, right?"

"What do you think?"

"Yes. How long am I grounded?"

"I'm thinking two weeks."

"Sounds fair. Zack should get more time, though."

"Already on it. He's grounded for a month."

"Good."

They were both silent for a while. Cody thought about how thankful he was that Zack wasn't the one in the hospital. Zack was his twin brother and his other half. Even if they were exact opposites, Cody couldn't imagine losing Zack.


	8. Discussions

**Chapter Eight – Discussions**

Meanwhile at the hospital... After Dr. Travis had left the room, Zack sat silently in his seat. Waiting to find out how his friend fared was driving Zack crazy. By the time his mom and Cody got there, he was crying silently with his on his knees. He looked up and saw Carey, and she forgot her anger and disappointment and just hugged her son. Cody joined in on the hug and they just stood there for a couple of minutes.

"So, how's Tapeworm?" Cody asked, cautiously. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I don't know," Zack replied, sadly. "Dr. Travis won't tell me. He says he can only tell a 'parent or guardian'."

"Oh," Cody replied.

"Where are the McAdams?" Carey asked, looking around.

Just then, Melissa McAdams walked up to Carey, Zack and Cody. "Hi Carey. Hi Zack. Hi Cody," she said, tiredly.

"Hello, Mrs. McAdams," Carey replied. "Where's your husband?"

"Oh. Tom's over there," Melissa replied, gesturing to her husband. "How's my son?"

"I dunno," Zack replied. "The doctor wouldn't tell me. He said he'd only tell his parents."

"Hospital policy," Cody chimed in.

"What's the doctor's name?" Melissa asked.

"Dr. Travis. Jesse Travis," Zack replied.

"Thanks," Melissa said. She walked over to Tom and they walked over to the reception desk.

"Hello," I'm Irene Byun," Said the twenty-something, brunette receptionist. "How may I help you?"

"Hi. We're looking for Dr. Jesse Travis," Melissa said.

"One moment, please," Irene responded. She rolled to the phone. "Paging Dr. Travis. Paging Dr. Travis."

"Thank you," Tom said. A few minutes later, Dr. Travis entered the waiting room. "Hello, we're here about our son," Tom said, walking up to the doctor. "He was brought here in an ambulance. He was at some sort of party..."

"Ah, yes," Dr. Travis replied. "Here's some paperwork that needs to be filled out -" he handed Melissa a clipboard. "Come right through here," Dr. Travis said, leading them down the hallway. "And into this office.."

Fifteen tense minutes later, the McAdams came out into the waiting room. "Hey," Zack said, uneasily, the first to notice them. "How is Tapeworm? Is he going to be okay?"

"He's going to have to stay in the hospital another day, but they're pretty sure he'll be alright," Tom said.

"Thank goodness," Carey said.

"I thought he might be gone forever," Zack said.

"The doctor said that he would have been if the ambulance hadn't gotten there when it did," Melissa said.

"You did good, Zack," Tom said.

"He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me!" Zack said.

"So, when can we visit him?" Cody asked.

"Well... He's asleep now. He will be until the morning," Tom replied. "But we'd still like to visit now."

"He's only allowed to have a couple of visitors at a time," Melissa added.

"You should visit him first, then," Zack said to Tom and Melissa. Melissa and tom walked towards Tapeworm's room.

Just then, Carey felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. "Oh, it's Kurt," she said, looking at her screen. _Why's he calling?_ she wondered. _He never calls! Plus, it's like one in the morning._

"Answer it, mom!" Cody said.

"Hello, Kurt," she said, answering the phone. "Why'd you call?"

"Oh, I was just wondering how you and the boys are," Kurt replied.

"At one in the morning?" Carey asked.

"Yeah, well... You know my schedule," Kurt said, chuckling. "I didn't exactly expect you to answer. I was going to leave a message. Why are you up this late?"

"Well..."  
"Where are you?"

"We're at the hospital. One of -"

"The hospital! Why? What's going on?"

"Settle! Zack and Cody are both fine! We're here for their friend Tapeworm."

"Oh. What happened to him?"

"Him and Zack went to a party and -"

"Mom," Zack interrupted. "I'll tell dad myself!"

"Alright," Carey replied. "Zack's telling you himself, Kurt."

"Hi dad," Zack said, after Carey handed him the phone.

"Hello son," Kurt replied. "So what was it Carey was trying to tell me?"

"Uh..." Zack replied, quietly. "It's a long story."

"Alright then," Kurt replied, unfazed. "I'm listening."

"So, this all started a little more than a month ago," Zack said, finding it hard to believe that it was only a month ago that Seth had invited him to the first party. _Today itself feels like it's been a week!_ Zack thought. Zack then went on to tell Kurt the whole story, pausing only when Kurt had a comment to make. "...So now I'm standing here in a hospital talking to you. My friend could have died, and I'm lucky he didn't. Oh, and by the way, I hate hospitals!"

"Well, I hope you've learned your lesson, Zack," Kurt said. "And I'm very glad that you and Cody weren't harmed by this. I'm very thankful for that, of course."

"Yes, I have learned my lesson. I feel very lucky that Cody and I weren't harmed by this. We easily could have ended up like Tyler Stone. Easily."

"Good."

"I have no interest in going to anymore of these parties whatsoever. I'd have to be a fool not to recognize the dangers now. The couple hours of 'fun' is not worth the dangers of these parties."

"Good you recognize that."

"Yeah, I'm just said that some of my peers don't get it!"

"Well, maybe there's something you can do?"

"What?"

"I dunno, but I'm sure there's an opportunity somewhere!"

"Yeah..."

"So... If that's all you have to say, I'd like to talk to your mother again."

"Alright. I love you, dad."

"I love to, too, son."

"Hello again," Carey said, after her son had gotten up and handed the phone to her.

"Hi Carey," Kurt replied, tiredly. "Zack told me the story. That's different from when I was growing up. They didn't have these pharming parties then. They sound quite dangerous."

"Obviously," Carey replied, sitting down in the same chair Zack had sat in.

"I mean, the stuff I used to get into during high school seems tame comparatively."

"Yes, it does. And it is, but drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana is still not right."

"Hey! Marijuana isn't that dangerous!"

Carey just smirked.

"Seriously, did you read that article I e-mailed you?"

"Yeah. It's still illegal, though."

"It shouldn't be. It should be personal choice and it has many medicinal and other uses. Anyways, I quit – my personal choice – a while ago. And I only drink occasionally, which is perfectly fine, since I'm an adult."

"Whatever. You think that about pot. I still don't agree. Drinking alcohol in moderation is alright, but I'm not interested."

"Yeah. Cool. Whatever. Back on topic... How are you punishing the boys?"

"Zack's being grounded for a month and Cody's being grounded for two weeks."

"That sounds fair. Do they know?"

"Cody does. I gotta tell Zack."

"Oh. I still can't believe they got into this! Especially Cody!"

"Yeah, it was hard to believe. At least nothing bad happened to them. We can be thankful for that."

"Yup. So I guess I should hang up soon. I wasn't planning on staying on the phone this long."

"Oh. Alright."

"But, first, is Cody there? I'd like to speak to my other son, of course."

"Yeah, sure. One minute," Carey said, getting up and giving Cody the phone.

"Hi dad," Cody said, tiredly.

"Hello," Kurt replied. "I just wanted to hear from you about everything."

"Well, I'm glad that Tapeworm's gunna be okay and I'm glad that Zack is unharmed, obviously," Cody said, sitting in the same chair that Zack and Carey sat in. "I think the punishments are completely fair."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I mean I got out after Tyler Stone's death. I just had a very bad feeling, which ended up being right. So I deserve a shorter grounding, right?"

"Of course."

"Plus Zack lied about his whereabouts to both me and mom. I still can't believe he did that."

"Really?"

"Well, I can believe him lying to mom, but I find it surprising he lied to me. I'm his twin!"

"And?"

"He's not supposed to lie to me! We share DNA! We share a room!"

"If he had told you the truth -"

"I would have told mom. Yeah. That's why he lied. I get it. He 'had' to so he could go."

"Yup."

"I guess I'm just disappointed in his choice. I'm disappointed he didn't do what I did. He didn't stay out of (more) trouble."

"Yup."

"I just hope he's learned his lesson and is done with this stupid stuff."

"He is."

"Well, good. It's behind us then."

"I have one last thing to say."

"What?"

"I am proud of you for using your best instincts and getting out at an earlier time."

"Well, it just didn't seem safe at all after thinking about it. Plus, I had no fun, anyways."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And Tyler Stone's death just cemented the 'this is unsafe' idea for me."

"But apparently did nothing to sway Zack."

"He seemed a little uneasy when I told him about it. Seth probably just told him something that negated it."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Look, I should be going to bed soon, so I think I should hang up now."

"Okay. Goodnight dad."

"Goodnight son. I love you," Kurt said, hanging up.

"Alright boys," Carey said, yawning. "We should go home now. It's almost 1:30."

"Shouldn't we stay here, mom?" Zack asked. "Just in case something goes wrong with Tapeworm?"

"No. We should all get home and get some sleep," Carey replied.

"Plus, the McAdams are here," Cody added. "If anything happens, they'll definitely call mom!"

"Alright," Zack said, reluctantly. "But we're visiting tomorrow. I wanna visit Tapeworm before he leaves the hospital!"

"That's fine. He'll likely get out this evening," Cody said. "We can visit in the morning, right mom?"

"Or early afternoon," Carey added. "C'mon, let's go." They exited the hospital and went home.

"So mom?" Zack asked, after the car ride was silent for awhile.

"Yes, Zack?" Carey replied.

"What's my punishment for this whole incident?" Zack asked, reluctantly. _I bet I'm grounded until school ends this year,_ he thought. _There goes any social life I had_.

"You're grounded for a month," Carey replied. "Starting today."

"Oh," Zack replied. "That sounds fair. How long are you grounded, Cody?"

"Two weeks," Cody replied.

"Sounds fair as well," Zack said.

"What?" Cody asked, surprised. "You're not going to complain about my lesser punishment?"

"No," Zack replied, simply. "It's fair. You quit going after the first week. I stupidly kept going."

The rest of the car ride was completely silent. The Martins got home and immediately went to bed. Carey went to sleep immediately, while Zack and Cody stayed up for about five minutes, talking. "I'm not going to be able to go to sleep," Zack said to the air.

"Sure you will," Cody said. "You're Zack."

"I'm serious. My friend could have died today, because I don't listen to anyone! Tapeworm didn't want to go, but I pressured him into it! What kind of friend am I?"

"A good friend."

"How?"

"Ok, so maybe not at first. But, what would have happened if you hadn't been there today? Would Tapeworm have gotten to the hospital?"

"No, the other partygoers thought it wasn't a big deal! He probably would have died."

"Exactly. So maybe you weren't the best friend to start with, but when it came right down to it, you had Tapeworm's back! That's a friend, Zack. So, stop beating yourself up about it! He's gunna be fine. Go to bed!"

"Maybe you're right. Goodnight."

"Goodnight brother," Cody said. Within minutes, both boys were sound asleep.


	9. The Rest of The Weekend

**Chapter Nine – The Rest of the Weekend**

The next morning, Zack woke up with a headache around 11:00. _This is the last time I'll have to deal with this, _Zack thought, trying to feel better. _Thankfully!_ He got up and went to get an aspirin from the bathroom cupboard.

"Hello Zack," Carey said.

Zack, startled, jumped back a foot. _Ouch!_ He thought, putting his hand on his head. "Hi mom," he said, quietly.

"Did you just wake up?" Carey asked.

"Uh... Yeah."

"Something wrong?"

"Uh... Yeah. My head hurts."

"Oh... That's what you get, Zack. That's what you get for -"

"Mom! I know! I'm well aware of why I have a headache!"

"Well, so long as you know.."

"Yeah mom. Got it," Zack said, trying to walk away towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm getting an aspirin," he replied, simply, walking to the bathroom. Zack took the aspirin, washing it down with a glass of water. He walked to the kitchen and got a bowl of cereal. He sat down at the kitchen table and started to eat. A few minutes later, Cody came into the kitchen, got a bowl of cereal and sat down to eat at the table with Zack.

"Good morning, Zack," Cody said, tiredly.

"Mornin'," Zack replied, groggily.

"You sound terrible," Cody said.

"You don't sound much better."

"Yeah, well at least I don't have a hangover."

"I don't -"

"Don't even try! It's obvious to anyone you have a hangover."

"I don't have that bad of one!"

"Yes, but you do have one."

"Ok, I have one. It's sucks, but, whatever... My headache's already half gone, anyhow."

"Ah, took some aspirin, did you?"

"Duh. Why wouldn't I? I don't wanna have a headache."

"I think you should have to live with it. It's a consequence of your actions, Zack."

"It wasn't the only one..." Zack mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing. You took something when you had one after the party you went to! What does that say?"

"I recognized the consequences of my actions, and never went again, unlike you!"

"I recognize them now, believe me. Tapeworm almost died. I'm not about to go back."

"You did when Tyler Stone died. You went right back!"

"Yeah... But -"

"Did it even bother you? Did you even think?"

"Yeah, it bothered me. I just got convinced by Seth that Tyler didn't die due to the party."

"How? He died at the party! What other evidence do you need?"

"Seth said that he brought his own stuff!"

"And?"

"And that's what killed him, not the stuff we were taking, Cody."

"That's stupid logic."

"It made sense at the time."

"Does it make sense now?"

"No, of course not. I probably wasn't entirely thinking things through."

"You never do."

"Yup. I'm not you – the smart one, who always makes good decisions. I'm Zack, the stupid one."

"I don't always make smart decisions! I partook in the first party, remember?"

"Yeah. I do recall that. So quit lecturing me! You have no right to lecture me. I've realized I've made mistakes and I'm lucky to be alive! I'm lucky one of my friends didn't die... So just shut up!" Zack said, getting up. He put his bowl in the sink and went to brush his teeth. He came into the living room and asked Carey, "When are we going to visit Tapeworm?"

"What time is it?" Carey asked.

"Around 11:30," Zack replied.

"Can you be ready by 12:00?" Carey asked.

"Yeah. Cody?" Zack asked, turning to his brother.

"Yeah, 12:00," Cody said, nodding, indicating he had been listening to the entire conversation. He got up, put his bowl in the sink and went to brush his teeth. He and Zack both headed into their room and got dressed.

After about five minutes, they went into the living room to wait for Carey, who was, despite the fact that she was the first up, not ready yet. They sat on the couch, neither saying much.

Ten minutes later, they were on their way to the hospital. The car ride was quiet, except for the soft sound of Zack drumming on the door handle nervously.

They arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes later. The Martins were sitting in the waiting room. "Hey," Melissa said, noticing their arrival.

"Good afternoon," Carey said. "How's Tapeworm?"

"We haven't seen him yet," Tom replied.

"Oh," Carey replied.

"Visiting hours don't start until 1:00pm," Tom said.

"He can have more than two visitors now," Melissa added. "So we can all go in as a group."

"Ok. Good," Cody said.

"Yeah," Zack said. He, Cody and Carey sat down across from Tom and Melissa. They sat in silence, all reading some kind of magazine.

"It's 1:00," Zack said, quietly, breaking the silence. He put his magazine away. He had been reading an article that Cody had silently handed to him. It was the article that Coraline had shown Cody, Max and Barbara from _Reader's Digest_. Cody, Carey, Tom and Melissa followed suit. They got up and walked to Tapeworm's room.

"Hello," Tapeworm said, as they entered the room. He looked a little tired, but other than that he looked well.

"Hi," Zack said, quietly. "How are you?"

"I'm alright," Tapeworm said, smiling. "A little tired and my stomach sorta hurts. What exactly happened, anyway?"

"You don't remember?" Cody asked.

"Not entirely. The last thing I remember I was feeling dizzy and my heart was pounding and I felt really cold," Tapeworm said.

"You passed out on the couch and I had to call an ambulance. Lynn and Helen didn't think it was necessary to call one and wouldn't let me use one of their phones," Zack said.

"How'd you call for an ambulance, then?" Tapeworm asked.

"I used Eli's without asking," Zack said. "He's gunna be pissed at me. So's Seth."

"Oh," Tapeworm said. "Do my parents know what happened?"

"Yeah," Zack said. "I told them the whole story."

"Oh," Tapeworm said. "Hi mom. Hi dad."

"Hello son," Tom and Melissa said.

"I'm going to assume that I'm grounded?" Tapeworm asked. _If I got grounded for an entire weekend for leaving the key in the door, I'm most certainly going to be grounded for this, _he thought.

"Good assumption," Tom replied.

"How long?" Tapeworm asked.

"A month," Melissa answered. Tapeworm looked at Zack with an irritated face.

"Sorry man," Zack said. "You wouldn't have been here, or grounded if I hadn't pressured you into coming."

"It's not entirely your fault. I chose to come. I chose to give into peer pressure," Tapeworm replied. "I probably should be happy to be alive, right?"

"Yeah," Zack said. "And join the club! Cody and I got grounded too!"

"Oh. How long?" Tapeworm asked.

"The same. A month!" Zack replied.

"Two weeks," Cody said.

"Oh. Figures," Tapeworm said., "The one with sense gets a lesser punishment!"

"Yup!" Cody said, smiling. Zack and Tapeworm both gave him an annoyed look. "At least you won't miss homecoming dance!" Cody said.

"We won't?" Tapeworm asked.

"No," Cody replied. "You guys get off a couple of days before."

"Oh good," Zack said.

"Does Max know what happened?" Tapeworm asked.

"No," Zack replied.

"Good. I don't want her to know," Tapeworm said.

"Why?" Cody asked, confused. _She's your girlfriend! _Cody thought. _She'd want to know!_

"She's going to flip!" Tapeworm replied. "She'll be mad and say that I was stupid!"

"She's gunna be concerned and worried, too!" Zack replied. "I mean sure she'll be mad, but it'll be because she cares!"

"Yeah man," Cody said.

"She's not going to find out," Tapeworm said. "Sometimes what someone doesn't know won't hurt them."

Tom, Melissa and Carey just looked t Tapeworm with an expression on their faces that said, 'no, that won't work."

"Tape, she's gunna find out that you're grounded!" Cody said. "You can't exactly hide that!"

"Yeah," Tapeworm said, not getting it. "But why is that of concern?"

"Dude!" Zack said. "She's gunna ask why!"

"I can just lie and make up some lame excuse," Tapeworm replied.

"That is not a good idea," Cody said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, Cody's right," Zack said. "I mean I'm no good with relationships – Everyone knows that! But even I know that lying isn't the best policy. You should be upfront and honest with her!"

"Honesty is the best policy in a relationship," Tom said. "It's not always the easiest thing to do, but it's right."

"Plus, chances are that she could hear it from someone at school!" Cody said. "And she'd be even more angry because you didn't tell her yourself!"

"That wouldn't be good, would it?" Zack asked.

"Well no, but she's gunna be mad either way. I mean, maybe you make a good point and I should tell her, but -"

"You should," Melissa said. Tom, Carey, Zack and Cody nodded in concurrence.

"Be honest, Cody. Are you going to tell Barbara that you went with us that night?" Tapeworm asked, pointedly.

"Yes," Cody said, without hesitation. "She'll be mad, but I'd rather her hear about it from me! Honesty is the best idea."

"Alright, fine," Tapeworm said, irritatedly. "I'll tell her. This is gunna suck!"

"Yep, but it's right," Zack said. Everyone else just nodded their heads in agreement.

They kept talking for awhile, until Carey decided it was time for her, Zack and Cody to go home at about 3:00.

"See ya, Monday, Tapeworm," Zack and Cody said as they got up to leave.

"See ya!" Tapeworm said.

Zack, Cody and Carey left and went home. Carey started fixing dinner. Zack took a nap. Cody started on his homework. At around 5:00, they ate dinner.

At around that same time, Tapeworm was released from the hospital. He, Tom and Melissa went home and had leftovers for dinner. Tapeworm, still slightly ill from Friday, didn't eat as much as usual. He then took a nap. When he woke up, he did his homework for a couple of hours and went to bed.

After dinner, Zack and Cody both did their homework. Carey watched television and went to bed early. She was tired from the somewhat late night the night before. Zack and Cody both went to bed at 10:00, having finished their homework completely and gotten ready for bed (including showers). _This is going to be a boring month!_ thought Zack, as he fell asleep.

The next day was rather boring for both Tapeworm and the twins. The most interesting part of the day was the evening. About 7:00, the phone at the Martins' rang. "Hello," Carey said, answering the phone.

"Hello, Mrs. Martin. It's Barbara. I'm Cody's girlfriend, and I'm wondering if he's home. I'd like to speak to him, and his cell phone's off," Barbara said.

"Yeah, he's home," Carey replied. "Hold on a sec."

"Thanks," Barbara said.

"Cody, phone!" Carey yelled, and Cody came into the living room. "Make this call short. You're grounded, remember?"

Cody nodded, as he took the phone and said, "Hello."

"Hi sweetie," Barbara said.

"Hi Barbara," Cody said, tiredly.

"What's up with your phone? Why's it off?"

"Zack and I are grounded and mom confiscated my cell phone."

"Oh. How long?"

"I'm grounded for two weeks, and Zack's grounded for a month."

"Why?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you tomorrow morning, because mom told me to make this short."

"Alright. See you in the morning. Library?"

"Of course."

"Goodnight. I love you."

"I love you, too. Goodnight," Cody said, hanging up the phone. He sighed and went back to his room, studied some American History, got ready for bed, and read a little before falling asleep. Zack had fallen asleep while he had been showering. _Seems like Zack'll be doing a lot of sleeping this month,_ Cody thought, before going to bed. _ He's gunna be so bored!_

Meanwhile... at the McAdams, Tapeworm's cell phone rang around 8:00 (his parents hadn't confiscated his). "Hello Maxine," Tapeworm said, answering his phone.

"Hello Marvin," Max replied, smiling. He was the only one besides her parents who called her Maxine, and she liked (for some reason) that he called her that. She was also the only one allowed to call him Marvin, besides his parents. He hated it when anyone else called him that. "How are you?"

"Uh... I'm alright," Tapeworm replied.

"You okay? You sound a little tired?"

"Yeah. I am. I'm grounded for a month, by the way."

"Oh? Why?"

"It's a long story. I'll explain to you tomorrow. I'm gunna go to bed soon."

"Oh, alright. You better explain!"

"I will. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Marvin. Get some sleep!"

"I will," he said, hanging up. He got ready for bed and was asleep in thirty minutes.


	10. More Discussions

**Chapter Ten – More Discussions**

The next day, Cody was woken up by his alarm clock at 6:30. He had asked Carey to drive him (for the sixth time), so he could get to school early. "Shut off your darn alarm!" Zack yelled, irritatedly. He had his set for 7:00 so he would have just enough time to eat and catch the bus.

"I got it!" Cody said, shutting it off.

"Why're you getting up this early, anyway?" Zack asked.

"Mom's driving me to school early. I'm meeting Barbara at the library."

"Oh. Well, see ya in class," Zack said, closing his eyes.

"See ya, lazy," Cody said. He finished putting on his clothes and walked into the living room. Carey, as usual, wasn't awake yet. Usually, she didn't wake up until after Zack and Cody left. "Mom! Wake up! You promised to drive me to school early!"

"Ok. Alright," Carey said, tiredly. "I'm getting up." While Cody ate, she went to the bathroom and changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants and somewhat combed her hair. Cody brushed his teeth and combed his hair after he was done eating. Carey and Cody left for school about five minutes before Zack's alarm went off. Cody was at school before Barbara, so he read a book while he waited for her to show up. She showed up after about ten minutes.

"Hi Barbara," Cody said, greeting her.

"Hello Cody," Barbara replied. "How was your weekend?"

"Chaotic."

"Oh. Why? And why are you grounded? You said it's a long story. We have plenty of time."

"Yeah. Well, it all started the day we got to high school. Do you remember that Seth kid inviting Zack to a party?"

"Yeah. Zack decided to invite all of us, and Max and I couldn't go."

"Yeah. Well, the party was where all the trouble started." And he went on to tell Barbara about the party. He told her about how he decided to quit going.

"Good for you!" Barbara said.

He continued to talk, telling her about how Zack had decided (without telling him) to keep going, and how Zack had convinced Tapeworm to keep going. He finished with Tapeworm's stay in the hospital.

"Oh my," Barbara said, shocked. "I'm glad to hear he's okay. Does Max know?"

"Tapeworm's telling Max sometime today," Cody said.

"Oh. That's good. She deserves to know."

"Yeah. He wasn't going to tell her."

"He wasn't going to?"

"No. He said something along the lines of 'what she doesn't know won't hurt her', but we convinced him that she'd probably be really mad if she found out from someone other than him."

"Yeah. I know I'd be."

"Yeah..." Cody said, trailing off. Just then, the bell rang. "Well, we -"

"Should get to homeroom!" Barbara said, finishing his sentence. They got their backpacks and left the library, holding hands.

"See you in class!" Cody said, as they got to Barbara's homeroom. They kissed and she walked into homeroom and sat down. Cody then walked down to his homeroom.

Later on... Tapeworm and Max had the same study hall. They requested to go to the library and sat in the same quiet spot that Cody and Barbara had sat in earlier.

"Hello. How was your weekend, Maxine?" Tapeworm asked, avoiding the topic that they had come to discuss.

"My weekend was pretty good, Marvin," Max said. "I'm going to just get straight to the point. Why are you grounded?"

"Uh. You're going to think I'm stupid," Tapeworm said, hesitating.

"No,I won't. We all make mistakes!"

"Yeah, well I made a pretty large one."

"What did you do?"

"Well... Remember the party that Seth invited us to at the beginning of the year?"

"Vaguely. Barbara and I couldn't go."

"Well, the party was where all the troubles began," Tapeworm said, and he told her all about the first party. He told her about how Tyler Stone died at the party.

"Oh yeah. I remember hearing about that. He was a senior, right?" Mad asked.

"Yeah. He was. So, Cody decided not to keep going to the parties, but Zack and I did."

"Why?"

"Seth convinced us it wasn't dangerous. He gave us some really stupid reasons and we believed him."

"Ok, continue with the story, Marvin," she said, frowning. He could tell Max didn't think he was an absolute idiot.

Tapeworm continued telling her about the rest of the parties. He told her about how he had a bad feeling before going to the party on Friday, but decided to go anyways because Zack nagged him. He told her about the party and how he passed out and how Zack called an ambulance. "Zack's probably going to be in trouble with Seth and Eli, because they didn't want him to call," Tapeworm said.

"Why?" Max asked.

"Apparently, the parties aren't exactly legal. And they didn't think I need to to the hospital, either. Zack was the only one who really thought I was in any real danger. He was right. I could have died, apparently."

"Yeah. These parties are dangerous. Coraline had us read an article on them."

"Us?"

"Cody, Barbara and I."

"Oh. So anyways... I was taken to the hospital, and Zack called my parents, who apparently came to the hospital a little later. Zack also called his mom and Cody and they came too."

"Oh, so you saw them that night?"

"Uh... No. Actually, I wasn't awake until Saturday. They came and saw me then."

"Ah. When did you get out of the hospital?"

"Saturday evening. I went home, ate very little and took a two hour nap. I was still sort of out of it."

"Understandable. How are you feeling today? I know you were still a little tired yesterday."

"I'm feeling a lot better. Normal, I'd say."

"Good to hear,and thanks for telling me what happened."

"Yep, I figure it's a good idea to communicate with you."

"So you're grounded for a month, right?"

"Yeah. So's Zack. Cody's grounded for two weeks – lucky one."

"Well. He did quit going earlier than you guys."

"Yeah. I wasn't complaining. It makes sense."

"So, about your grounding? Are you able to go to homecoming dance?"

"Yeah. I'm ungrounded a couple of days before, so we'll be able to go together."

"Yay!" Max said, happily. They continued talking the rest of class, just enjoying each other's company. Neither wanted to do their homework. At the end of class, Tapeworm walked Max to her next class, then quickly hurried to his.

At lunch, Barbara, Cody, Max, Tapeworm, Zack and Coraline all sat together. They all talked about various topics, laughing and smiling. That spirit of laughter and fun was interrupted by the appearance of a certain redhead and friend.

"Hello all," Seth greeted the entire table, sharply. "May I speak to Zack and Tapeworm?"

"In private," Eli added, eying the cafeteria suspiciously.

"Uh..." Tapeworm said, cautiously. "Yeah. Sure."

Zack just nodded, apprehensively, and they got up, looking at their table mates with nervous faces. They followed Seth and Eli out of the cafeteria.

"What was that about?" asked Coraline, noticing in particular the nervousness on Zack's face.

"Uh. It's a bit of a long story," replied Cody.

"We have all of lunch," Coraline replied.

"Alright, I'm sure Zack and Tapeworm would not mind me telling you," Cody replied and he told her what he had told Barbara earlier that day.

Meanwhile... Seth, Eli, Zack and Tapeworm were standing near the bike rack, which was the most private spot on campus. It was somewhat hidden behind a small tree.

"Uh... Hello," Zack said, cautiously. "What's up?"

"What's up is you almost got Eli and I in huge trouble!" Seth said, threateningly, in a low voice.

"You were hosting something illegal," Zack replied. "It's not my fault you almost got in trouble."

"You called 9-1-1!" Eli said, almost yelling.

"And, let me point out, you were doing something illegal, too!" Seth said, pointedly.

"Yeah. We realize that, and we were lucky not to get in trouble with the law!" Tapeworm said.

Zack nodded, then said, "I called 9-1-1 because my friend was unconcious! What the crap would you have done?"

"Nothing!" Eli said.

"Even if there was a large chance your friend might die?" Zack said, pointedly.

"I would still do nothing!" Eli said. "It's better to not get everyone in trouble!"

"Well aren't you a great friend?" Tapeworm asked, sarcastically.

"So anyways..." Seth said, ignoring Tapeworm's rhetorical question. "As annoyed as I am with you, I'm willing to invite you to another party. I'm hosting one at my place on Friday night. You interested?"

"Considering I just almost died at one of those parties, had to spend a night in the hospital, and got grounded for a month, I'm gunna have to say no," Tapeworm replied, unhesitatingly.

"Yeah. I'm gunna say no, as well!" Zack replied.

"One scare, and you guys aren't coming back?" Seth asked.

"No. I don't feel like actually ending up dead," Tapeworm replied. "I'm having a great life right now, and I don't feel like potentially ending it just for a few hours of 'fun'."

"Chicken," Eli said. "What's life without a little bit of danger?"

"I've had enough danger," Zack said.

"Whatever," Eli said, waving his hand in the air.

"Your loss!" Seth said, and they began to walk away.

"Losers!" Eli and Seth yelled, before walking back into the school.

Zack and Tapeworm stood there for a few minutes.

"They're the losers," Tapeworm said. "They'll probably end up dead."

"Unfortunately, Tape," Zack said, sadly. "You're probably right!"

"Yeah. I mean," Tapeworm said. "I don't wish any harm to them. They're cool people! But they're taking great risks with their lives, and there's a certain inevitability that something's going to happen."

"Yeah, probably. But maybe they'll get some sense before that happens!" Zack replied. "One can always hope."

"Yeah. Let's go back inside! Everyone's probably wondering what's going on..." So they walked back inside and returned to the cafeteria. They sat down with their friends and the group continued talking. The rest of the day went smoothly.

That afternoon, they returned to the hotel right after school.

"Hello Maddie," Zack and Cody said to the candy counter girl. She was now a senior in high school. Zack had outgrown his middle school crush on her, but he and Cody were still fond of her as a good friend.

"Hi Zack! Hi Cody!" Maddie said, cheerfully. "Why are you two home so early?"

"We're grounded," replied Cody.

"Why are you grounded?" Maddie asked.

"It's a long story," Zack replied. "Perhaps we'll tell you later."

"Oh. Ok," Maddie said.

"Or perhaps Mr. Moseby will tell you," Cody said. "Mom did say she'd explain it to him..."

"Oh alright," Maddie said.

"So, what are you up to tonight, Maddie?" Zack asked, nonchalantly.

"After work, I'm meeting Andrew at his house to do homework," Maddie replied. Andre was her boyfriend who she had been dating for three months.

"Cool," Zack replied.

"Hello!" London said, walking over to the counter. She was also a senior in high school. She was pretty much the same, only a tad bit smarter. She was still dating Lance, the hotel pool's lifeguard. She had a good relationship with her step-mom, Brandi, and the two hung out together on a weekly basis.

"Hi London!" Zack and Cody said.

"What's up?" Maddie asked.

"Portia and I were going to go shopping this afternoon," London answered. "She should be here soon! I just needed to grab something from my room!"

"Oh, sounds cool!" Maddie said. _Surprise, surprise, London's going shopping!_ She thought, sarcastically.

"Yeah," Zack said.

"We should get upstairs," Cody said. "Mom's expecting us home any minute now!"

"See ya later," Zack said. He and Cody started walking up the stairs to the elevator and got on.

"Bye!" London and Maddie said. London soon left to go up to her room.

Zack and Cody spent the rest of the evening doing homework and eating dinner. They went to bed around 9:00, after getting all of their homework done.

_A/N: Good news for readers! Updates will be very soon - in the next couple of days, because I'm trying to get this typed before school begins... There's two chapters left, so enjoy._


	11. Media Studies

**Chapter Eleven – Media Studies**

The next couple of weeks went by with little incident. The Friday that Cody was ungrounded proved to be interesting. He, Zack, Coraline and Tapeworm were in the same Media Studies class.

"Hello students," Mr. Reed, their Media Studies teacher, said cheerfully. He handed out a bunch of papers to the students. "Your next assignment is on the pink sheet I handed out. This will be a group project. You may work with a group of no more than four. The project is to make a public service announcement on a topic that impacts teenagers. This needs to be taken seriously. You will be presenting these in class starting next Friday. We will be working on these in class Monday through Thursday. The details are on the pink sheet. The laptops are here so you can find topics you are interested in. When you find one, come and tell me, so you can sign up for a slot to do your presentation."

The students got up and moved about, finding their friends and getting laptops. Zack and Cody didn't get up, knowing already what they wanted to do their public service announcement on. Tapeworm and Coraline came over to Zack and Cody.

"Hey," Tapeworm said. "Y'all want to work together?"

"Yeah," Zack and Cody replied.

"Sounds good," Coraline replied. "So any of you have an idea for a topic?"

"Yeah," Zack replied. "I think it'd be good if we did it on the type of parties Cody, Tapeworm and I attended."

"Pharming parties," Cody said, as usual trying to clarify things with a technical term.

"Yeah," Tapeworm said. "That sounds like a really good idea. It'd be good to be able to try to keep what happened to me from happening to anyone else."

"Sounds good to me," Coraline said. "Oftentimes, public service announcements where the presenters have been involved in what they're warning against can be the most effective."

"You haven't experienced this stuff, have you?" Zack asked.

"Well no, but I've been to parties where the activities took place but didn't participate," Coraline said.

"Ah," Zack said.

"Well, since we're sure on our topic, we should inform Mr. Reed on what it is," Cody said.

"Yeah," Tapeworm said, agreeing. He, Cody, Zack and Coraline walked up to the front of the room.

"We're doing our public service announcement on teen prescription drug use, specifically pharming parties," Coraline said to Mr. Reed, who was checking his e-mail.

"Sounds like an appropriate topic, Mr. Reed replied, making note on a schedule. They were the fourth group to sign up. "Names?"

"Coraline Davis," Coraline replied.

"Zack Martin," Zack said.

"Cody Martin," Cody said.

"Marvin McAdams," Tapeworm replied.

"Alright, you guys are signed up to go second on Friday," Mr. Reed replied, and they returned to their seats.

The group started discussing sources for their project. "Coraline, do you still have that article from _Reader's Digest_?" Cody asked.

"Yeah, I can bring it in on Monday," Coraline replied.

"Good," Zack commented. "Cody made me read that at the hospital. It's a really informative article."

The group worked the rest of class, finding many good sources to use. On Monday through Thursday, the group worked on finding a few more sources and putting everything together. They put together a script and a PowerPoint presentation. There was little work done outside of class, other than Cody gathering a few sources at the library and Zack rehearsing his lines from a script on Wednesday and Thursday evening. "Hey Zack," Cody said, walking into their room on Thursday evening after going on a date with Barbara. "What are you doing?"

"Rehearsing some of my lines for the Media Studies project," Zack replied. "I need to get down this technical stuff!"

"Oh," Cody replied.

"I wish we could take a second look at that presentation before tomorrow's class. I wish we could make sure it's all correct. Make sure the presentation looks attractive and is easy to read."

"I'm sure the presentation looks good. You and Coraline worked hard on it. You usually don't care this much about schoolwork. Why the change?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

"Not entirely."

"This is really important to me. I want to share what I've learned with others! If I can help one person to reconsider going to these parties, then it is worth the extra effort! This is more than just silly school stuff – this is real life!"

"Yeah."  
"I told Dad that I was sad that others didn't recognize the dangers, and he said that maybe I would get the opportunity to share my experiences. This is that opportunity!"

"Yeah. You should tell dad about the project the next time you talk to him!"

"Yeah. You want to practice with me?"

"Sure," Cody replied, and they worked on the project for 45 minutes. "Alright Zack," Cody said, yawning. "We should go to bed soon. I'm tired."

"Do you think we know the script enough?" asked Zack, nervously.

"Yes," Cody answered, confidently. "But you know what will make the presentation better tomorrow?"

"What?"

"Getting a good amount of sleep! You'll be more focused and memories form when you sleep!"

"Alright," Zack said, disappearing into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He returned, changed into pajamas and got into bed. Cody brushed his teeth, changed into pajamas, turned of the light and got into bed.

"Goodnight, brother," Cody said.

"Goodnight," Zack said. Despite his nervousness, Zack fell asleep fifteen minutes later, as did Cody.

"The next day, classes went as usual. _I hope this presentation goes well,_ thought Zack, walking into Media Studies.

"Hello, students," Mr. Reed said, greeting the class once they had all sat down. "We should get right to the presentations. Ryleigh, Kira, Ashlee and Meggie, you are up first."

Ryleigh, Kira, Ashlee and Meggie got up and went to the front of the room. Their presentation was on driving while texting.

"A final food for thought," Ashlee said, near the end of the presentation.

"Studies show that someone who is texting while driving is actually more likely to get into a crash than one who is intoxicated," said Ryleigh.

"Do you want to risk that?" asked Meggie, rhetorically.

"I wouldn't!" said Kira. Thirty seconds or so passed and the class clapped.

"Nice job, ladies," Mr. Reed said. "Next up, Cody, Zack, Marvin and Coraline."

The four got up and went to the front of the room.

"Hey guys! Ya want to go to a party on Friday?" Zack asked.

"Yeah! Sounds good!" Coraline, Tapeworm and Cody replied.

"Alright!" Zack said, excitedly. "It's at my place at 8:00."

"Cool," Tapeworm said. A few seconds passed.

"Hey guys!" Zack said. "Welcome to the party!"

"Cool," Cody said. "So what are we doing tonight?"

"You've never been to a high school party, have you?" Zack asked, sarcastically.

"Uh no..." Coraline replied.

Zack picked up a bowl of Tic-Tacs and Skittles and a bottle of IBC root beer that were being used as props. "Dig in!" he said, picking up a handful of Tic-Tacs and Skittles and knocking them back with the root beer.

"Are these drugs?" Tapeworm asked, curiously.

"Prescription drugs," Zack replied, carelessly. "They're harmless!" He handed Coraline the bowl.

"Uh... No thanks!" Coraline replied. "I've read about this! It actually is dangerous!" Coraline got up and left.

Cody and Tapeworm looked at Zack apprehensively.

"What?" Zack asked, defensively.

"Is she telling the truth?" Cody asked, bluntly.

"No!" Zack replied.

"Really?" Tapeworm said, disbelievingly.

"Yeah," Zack replied. "I mean, come on, doctors prescribe this stuff! It has to be!"

"I guess," Cody replied, reaching into the bowl. "But I'm not drinking beer."

"I am," Tapeworm said, reaching into the bowl and taking the 'beer' from Zack.

Tapeworm, Zack and Cody froze as Coraline walked in front of them, and said," In truth, these parties, known to some as pharming parties, are dangerous."

"I should know," Tapeworm said, walking up next to Coraline. "Three weeks ago, I went to a party. One of these 'pharming parties' we've been talking about. I'd been to a few before, so it wasn't like it was the first one. I took some stuff – I don't remember what it was, and, at first, things were great, awesome, as usual. But then everything changed. I became dizzy, cold and my heart started pounding. The next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital. One of my friends had called an ambulance. I'm lucky to be alive!"

"Someone else wasn't," Zack said, joining Coraline and Tapeworm. "Remember Tyler Stone? He died at one of the parties I attended."

Coraline pointed to the presentation they had turned on earlier. "And he isn't the only one. As you can see many teenagers have died from misusing prescription drugs," Coraline said.

"Still think these parties aren't dangerous?" Cody asked, joining Coraline, Tapeworm and Zack.

"Let us further convince you they are," Coraline said.

"First of all, my comment about it being safe to recreationally take prescription drugs because they're prescribed by doctors-" Zack began.

"Is untrue," continued Tapeworm. "Prescription drugs are used for specific medical reasons. They have been proven to be safe and effective only if used for these reasons and taken under the supervision of a doctor. If taken improperly, they are actually quite dangerous."

"The drugs that are taken at these parties are usually strong depressants and stimulants," Cody said. "In case you haven't heard in school, depressants are drugs that slow down the central nervous system. Alcohol is a depressant, for example."

"A stimulant speeds up the central nervous system," Zack continued. "Caffeine is a stimulant, for example."

"One of the most dangerous things about pharming parties is the fact that teenagers combine stimulants and depressants," Coraline said.

"This combination causes heartbeat, blood pressure, and other systems to start fluctuating wildly," Tapeworm continued.

"Which could cause arrhythmia," Zack continued. "Which is an irregular heartbeat. If left untreated, it could get to the point where whole body systems begin to collapse."

"On the other hand, when strong depressants are combined with each other, they enhance one another," Cody said. "These slow down brain function. Combining many of these together could entirely shut off brain function."

"All of this sound like fun?" Coraline asked.

"Seems more like an unnecessary risk to me!" Tapeworm said.

"A risk of death for a few hours of fun? Doesn't seem worth it to me!" Zack said.

There was applause from the class. "Very good!" Mr. Reed said. "Next up, Seth Eli, Mick and Beth."

They headed to the front of the room. Their announcement was horrible, mostly due to Seth and Eli's lack of preparation and non-serious attitude. Mick and Beth were trying to do their best on the announcement, but were getting messed up by Seth and Eli. The other two groups that day did their presentations without incident.

At the end of class, Blaine approached Zack, Coraline, Tapeworm and Cody. "Hey!" he greeted them.

"Hi Blaine," Zack said.

"That was a really good announcement," Blaine said.

"Thanks," Coraline, Zack, Tapeworm and Cody said.

"It was very true," Blaine said. "Most teens don't get how dangerous they are!"

"Yeah, that's kind of why we did the announcement," Coraline said.

"We hoped that through our announcement, someone would reconsider going to one of these," Zack said.

"Or, that someone who was already going would quit going, like we have," Tapeworm added.

"Good luck," Seth and Eli said, walking by.

"You didn't convince us!" Seth continued.

"Your presentation was stupid," Eli added, and they left down the hall.

"Well..." Cody said. "That was interesting."

"Don't mind those two," Blaine said, non-fazed. "They're just stupid and stubborn. See ya! I gotta get to lunch."

"Yeah, see ya!" Zack said, also somewhat non-fazed. "Coraline, can I speak to you in private?"

"Uh sure," Coraline replied. "We'll catch up with you guys later!" Tapeworm and Cody continued walking to lunch. "So, what's up, Zack?" she asked.

"Are you planning on going to homecoming?" Zack asked.

"Yes," Coraline answered.

"Are you going with anyone?" Zack asked.

"Nope. Are you?"

"Nope. Would you like to go with me?"

"Are you asking me out?"

"Maybe. Although, if you'd like to just go as friends, that's okay."

"Nah. I like you, too."

"Oh," Zack said, taken aback somewhat.

"As long as you're done with the pharming parties."

"I am," Zack said, confidently. "We could go with Tapeworm, Max, Cody and Barbara. They're going to dinner before."

"Oh, sounds good."

"Ok, we can all discuss plans over lunch."

"It's a date then," she said and they walked to lunch, where the group discussed homecoming plans.


	12. Get Out Alive

**Chapter Twelve – Get Out Alive**

"**No time for goodbye" he said  
As he faded away**  
"**Don't put your life in someone's hands****  
They're bound to steal it away  
Don't hide your mistakes****  
'Cause they'll find you, burn you."****  
Then he said**

**If you want to get out alive  
****Run for your life  
If you want to get out alive  
Run for your life**

"Mom!" Zack yelled. "We need to get moving! I don't want to be late! Coraline's supposed to be in the lobby at 5:45!"

"What?" Cody said, teasingly. "Don't want to be late for your date?"

"As a matter of fact, I don't," Zack said, brushing his hair, again. He was wearing a nice black button-down shirt, somewhat dressy black pants and brown dress shoes.

"Another thing," Cody said, teasingly. "I thought you said plain button-down shirts are uncool!" He himself was wearing a white button-down shirt, khaki pants and black dress shoes.

"They are..." Zack replied. "At parties! This is a semi-formal affair, so a plain button-down shirt is awesome."

"I see," Cody replied. "It's 5:40!"

"Mom!" Zack yelled. "Let's go!" They walked into the living room.

"Alright," Carey said, walking into the living room, looking through her purse. "I just gotta make sure my camera's here!"

"Mom!" Zack and Cody yelled.

"What?" Carey replied. "I'm not going to miss this! It's your first high school dance! Now, let's go!"

Zack and Cody rolled their eyes as they walked out the front door of their suite. Then, they went down the elevator. Barbara and Coraline were standing by the front desk. Coraline was wearing a dark purple, sleeveless knee-length dress with high-heeled black shoes. She had on a silver necklace with a crescent moon. Barbara was wearing a light blue, sleeveless knee-length dress with dark blue flats. She was wearing a gold-colored necklace with a small crystal and simple emerald-green stud earrings. She had her hair pulled up into a simple, elegant bun.

"Wow!" Zack said to Coraline. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you," Coraline replied, smiling. "You look nice, too."

"Lovely," Cody said, greeting Barbara. "You look lovely."

"Thank you," Barbara replied. "You look rather handsome yourself.

"Zack!" Carey said. "I want to take a picture of you and Coraline first!"

"Mom!" Zack said, irritatedly.

"Don't worry about it, Zack," Coraline said. "My mom would be the same way! Oh, by the way, Carey, my mom would probably appreciate a copy of this picture!"

"Sure!" Carey replied. "I'll have Zack give you one!"

"My parents will probably want one of me and Cody!" Barbara said.

"Sure!" Carey replied. "I'll send it with Cody!"

Zack and Coraline stood in front of one of the planters of flowers. He cautiously put his arm around Coraline. They smiled and Carey took the photo. Then she took a photo of Cody and Barbara. They all walked out of the hotel. Mr. Moseby waved goodbye, saying, "Bye! Have a good time!"

They all got into Carey's car. It was a tight, but manageable fit. Carey drove them to Old Bag of Nails, the restaurant Cody and Barbara had picked out, partially because it was walking distance from the school. Tapeworm and Max were already there, waiting in the lobby. Tapeworm's mom had driven them. Tapeworm was wearing a navy blue button-down shirt, black pants and black shoes. Max was wearing a black spaghetti strap dress and black flats. She had on silver hoop earrings and a simple silver necklace. They were escorted to a six-person circular table in the back of the restaurant by a waiter. They started with water, and quietly looked at their menus.

"Marvin," Max said. "Whatcha thinking of getting for dinner?"

"I don't know," Tapeworm replied. "I've heard the fish and chips is really good."

"I've heard that too," Max answered. "I'm not really that hungry, though. I couldn't eat an entire order."

"Well, we could split an order," Tapeworm suggested. "I doubt I could finish an entire order, either."

"Alright," Max replied. "That sounds good!"

Max and Tapeworm ordered a plate of fish and chips and were the first to order. They both ordered Dr. Pepper as well. Cody and Barbara both ordered a Caesar salad. Cody ordered chicken noodle soup, and Barbara ordered minestrone soup. They both ordered iced tea. Zack ordered a cheeseburger and fries, and Coraline ordered a chicken sandwich and fries. They both ordered root beer. While waiting for dinner, they talked and laughed. They all enjoyed their dinner, and lingered for quite some time after they were done. For dessert, Tapeworm and Max split a small slice of chocolate cake. Cody had a slice of apple pie which Barbara ate a few bites of. Coraline had a scoop of strawberry ice cream. Zack had a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of peanut butter ice cream.

Shortly before it was time to leave, Cody was given the bill. Barbara gave him her share of the bill as they were splitting their share of the bill. Max paid for hers and Tapeworm's share of the bill, and Zack paid for his and Coraline's. After the waiter came back, Tapeworm left the tip and the group left and walked to the school, where they were some of the first to arrive

The group formed a circle and danced to the overly-loud hip-hop music.

"May I have this dance?" Zack asked Coraline when the first slow song came on.

"Yes, I would love to dance with you," Coraline replied, and they began dancing. Cody and Barbara and Max and Tapeworm were dancing nearby.

When the slow song ended, the group went back to dancing together in a circle. Max and Tapeworm, the best dancers of the group, occasionally broke off from the group to do some swing-like dance steps and some of Max's hip-hop steps she'd learned. She enjoyed showing off her skills at dancing. After a few fast songs, Max and Tapeworm were thirsty and went over to the refreshments table and had some punch. They sat down at a nearby table. At the end of the fast song, "Thank You For Loving Me" by Bon Jovi came on.

"I love this song," Max said. "It used to play at all of the middle school dances!"

Tapeworm nodded, agreeing, and asked, "Well then, shall we dance, Maxine?"

She nodded, smiling, and they walked onto the dance floor, hand in hand. They began dancing, her head on his shoulder. He started singing along to the music quietly. Max smiled.

"Maxine," Tapeworm said, quietly "I've been thinking about those parties I attended."

"Oh?" Max replied, curiously, lifting her head slightly. "What about them?"

"I was just thinking how stupid I was to attend them," Tapeworm replied, regretfully.

"Everyone does stupid things, Marvin," Max replied, quietly.

"Yeah... But -"

"The thing to do is learn from mistakes and you've done that!"

"Yeah, I have. I'm glad I was able to that. I'm lucky I was able to do so. I'm lucky I didn't die!"

"Yeah. I'm glad you didn't. It wouldn't be the same if you weren't here."

"I'm thankful that I am here. I'm thankful you didn't walk away. I'm thankful I'm here dancing with you."

"I wouldn't have walked away."

"I love you, Maxine," Tapeworm said, quietly. He hadn't told her before. He didn't realize he did until he thought she might walk away after he told her about the parties.

"I love you, too, Marvin," she replied and they kissed. They continued dancing until the song was over, just enjoying being together. When the next fast song came on, they went to the other side of the floor where Coraline, Zack, Barbara and Cody were and danced some more.

Later on during the dance, Coraline, Max and Barbara went to the bathroom to fix up their hair and makeup a bit. Zack, Cody and Tapeworm went to the refreshments table where they ran into Lynn and Helen. Lynn was wearing a spaghetti-strap red dress that was very short and red stilettos. Helen was wearing a black halter-top dress that was about the same length as Lynn's and black stilettos.

"Hello Zack, Cody, Tapeworm," Lynn said, greeting each with a nod.

"Hi!" Helen said, cheerfully.

"Hello," Zack replied.

"You guys here with dates?" Lynn asked.

"Yes," Cody replied.

"They're in the restroom," Tapeworm added.

"How about you guys?" Zack asked.

"Nope," Helen replied. "Maybe next year."

"Maybe," Zack replied.

"So, Lynn and I thought your presentation in Media Studies was good," Helen said.

"Thanks," Zack, Cody and Tapeworm replied.

"It helped give us some perspective," Lynn said.

"Especially after last night," Helen added, somberly.

"Oh? What happened last night?" Cody asked.

"Eli hosted another party at his place," Lynn began.

"We didn't go," Helen added. "We were already a bit wary of these parties."

"Seth and Candi went," Lynn continued.

"Of course," Helen said, shaking her head, frowning.

"I got a phone call from Candi this morning," Lynn continued. "Apparently, sometime over the course of the evening, they both passed out."

"Not really that uncommon," Helen said, matter-of-factly. "I myself passed out at several parties – I didn't really think much of it."

"Me neither," Lynn said. "However, maybe we should have. Candi came to near the end of the party. She soon realized that something was really wrong. Seth hadn't come to yet. She noticed that he looked pale and he wasn't breathing. She felt for a pulse; There was none."

"Seth died?" Zack said, shocked.

"Yup," Lynn replied, sad. "Candi said that she called 9-1-1. Eli wasn't happy about that."

"I can imagine," Zack commented. "I remember how pissed they were when I called about Tapeworm."

"Yeah, Lynn said. "I'm sorry for my not caring."

"Me too," Helen said. "I'm glad you ignored us."

Zack chuckled. "No problem."

"Anyways," Lynn continued. "The ambulance arrived fifteen minutes later, after Eli herded everyone out. They attempted to revive Seth, but he was dead before they got there. No chance. The ambulance took him to the hospital, anyways, and she went home."

"Wow," Tapeworm said. _I'm lucky,_ he thought._ That could have happened to me._

"She was going to go to the dance with Seth," Helen said.

"Oh, "Cody said.

"Is she here?" Tapeworm asked.

"No," Lynn replied, simply. "She's at home."

"She didn't want to go without him," Helen elaborated. "She liked him a lot. She's pretty much in shock and doesn't want to be around people right now."

"I don't blame her," Cody said. "I'd probably be the same way."

Zack and Tapeworm nodded.

"There is some good coming out of this, though," Lynn said, quietly.

"Oh? What's that?" Zack asked.

"She said this morning that she's done going to the parties," Lynn replied.

"Well, that's good," Tapeworm said.

"How has Eli reacted?" Zack asked, curiously, even though he knew the answer.

"He hasn't," Helen replied, simply. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't care."

"He's here at the dance," Lynn said. "With some dumb blond girl who's probably drunk. He's acting as if nothing happened."

"But they were really good friends, right?" Cody asked, disbelievingly.

"It didn't matter," Helen replied. "They both just became really callous towards everything. I doubt Seth would have cared had the roles been reversed."

"Wow," Tapeworm said. "That's sad."

"Eli'll probably keep going to those parties won't he?" Cody asked.

"Yup," Lynn replied. "Unless his parents try to stop him, which they won't. They don't really care."

"Oh," Zack said. There was silence for a few minutes.

"I propose a round of toasts," Cody said, and they all raised their plastic cups. "To Seth Koogle, a misguided, but cool person. May he rest in peace."

"Hear, hear," said the others and they clinked their classes together.

"To Tyler Stone," Helen said. "A bright guy who had a bright future. May he rest in peace."

"Hear, hear."

"To Coraline Davis," Zack said. "For giving me a chance I probably didn't deserve."

"Hear, hear."

"To Candi Lane," Lynn said. "For having wisdom enough to walk away from danger."

"Hear, hear."

"To Zack Martin," Tapeworm said. "For recognizing the trouble I was in and having the courage to go against everyone else. You saved my life, friend. And to all of us for getting out alive."

"Hear, hear."

_**Song Lyrics: "Get Out Alive" by Three Days Grace**_

**THE END**

**Author's Note: **My inspiration for this piece of fanfiction was a _Reader's Digest_ article about the dangers of pharming parties. Tyler Stone was a real person mentioned in the article who died due to his involvement in these parties. I want to dedicate this story to the real Tyler Stone and any other teenagers who have died as a result of these dangerous get-togethers. I hope that you readers have understood that my purpose was not to glorify this, but to warn of the very real dangers of pharming parties. Don't believe the myths – this 'fun' will lead to your downfall later. Remember, as my old health teacher used to say, 'Drugs start out as friends but end up as foes'.


End file.
